


Ladynoir July 2019

by SailorChibi



Series: Lovesquare Ficlet Collection 2019 [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Needs a Hug, Cat Puns, Established Relationship, F/M, First Kiss, Identity Reveal, Ladynoir July, Lila Rossi is a bitch, Miraculous Side Effects, Miraculous Tendencies, Post Reveal, Pre-Relationship, Secret Identity Reveal, Tags Subject to Change, it never left, lmao what am I saying, one-sided identity reveal, that’s right my salt is back
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-06-02 05:24:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 21,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19434787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: 31 unrelated ficlets featuring the bug and cat.





	1. Miraculous

**Author's Note:**

> For the last of the lovesquare months, this is Ladynoir July.

Ladybug leaped to the next rooftop and smiled to herself when she spotted her partner. Chat was sitting on the edge of a roof about a block away, back to her. She changed trajectory and headed towards him.

“Good evening, My Lady,” Chat said the moment her boots touched down behind him. He didn’t then to look at her, but after so long together, both had a sixth sense as to where the other was.

“It’s really more like ‘good morning’, don’t you think?” Ladybug said, moving to sit beside him. It was almost 6am.

Chat shrugged. “I guess at this point it’s all the same,” he said.

Ladybug studied the side of his face. He looked unusually pensive. He hadn’t even smiled at her yet. She found herself feeling oddly bereft, and leaned forward to touch his arm.

“ _Chaton_ , are you okay?” she asked. “Why are you out so late?”

He sighed and finally turned to look at her. “Do you ever wonder if Master Fu made a mistake giving us our miraculous?” he asked.

“What?” Ladybug’s eyes widened. “What brought that on?”

“Nothing really. I was just thinking… he told me gave me my miraculous because I stopped to help an old man up, even though it meant giving up on what I really wanted.” Chat held his hand up so they could both see his ring. “It seems risky to bestow so much power on someone based on a five minute interaction.”

Ladybug thought about that for a few seconds, then said, “I guess you have a point. He gave me mine because I pulled him back from stepping out in front of a car even though I was late.”

Chat finally smiled. “An everyday Ladybug even _before_ Paris even knew who Ladybug was,” he teased.

She blushed and swatted at his arm. “Don’t tease. I’m being serious.”

“So was I.”

“But I also think that Master Fu could see more in us than we could see in ourselves,” she went on. “And his decision turned out to be a good one. I can’t imagine anyone else being my partner, Adrien.”

He turned to her at the sound of his real name, eyes wide and vulnerable. “Really?”

“Of course!” Ladybug said, wrapping her arms around his. She leaned into his side and rested her head on his shoulder.

“I can’t imagine anyone else as Ladybug. You’re the hero Paris always needed, Marinette,” he whispered.

Her blush deepened. “We’re an ideal pair,” she said. “Or at least I think we are. Separately we might not be perfect, but we’re two sides of the same soul. We make up for each other’s short-comings and weaknesses. Maybe that’s what Master Fu could see, and that’s why he chose us.”

Chat relaxed into her and rested his head atop hers. “Maybe you’re right. I didn’t think about it like that.”

“Of course I’m right. I’m _always_ right.”

He laughed, and it was heavy with the rumble of a purr, and Ladybug smiled. She intertwined their fingers, and they settled down to watch the sun rise together.


	2. Civilian Life

Sometimes, when the sky was clear and he had nothing else pressing, Chat liked to just go for runs across Paris. There was something very freeing about it, and Plagg was always easily bribed with half a wheel of Camembert.

It wasn’t a patrol night, so he was surprised to pass by the Eiffel Tower and spot a familiar red-suited figure sitting on her favorite beam. Ladybug didn’t often come out in her spare time. He used his baton to propel himself up to join her and landed, beaming.

“Bugaboo! What brings you out - Ladybug, are you _crying_?!”

He didn’t mean to sound as shocked as he did, but he could count on one hand the amount of times he’d seen Ladybug cry. It wasn’t very often. To see her now, tears streaming her face, was alarming indeed.

“Oh. Hi, Chat,” she said shakily. She lifted a hand and wiped it across her eyes.

“What’s wrong? Who do I need to kill?” Chat demanded, sitting beside her.

She gave him a tiny smile. “There is this one horrible girl in my class… but honestly, everything in my civilian life has been going wrong lately.”

Chat paused at that, surprised. Normally Ladybug didn’t like talking about their civilian lives. He knew the basic details about her - she had two parents, her favorite color was pink, she didn’t like carrots, she loved fashion - but nothing that would give her away.

“What happened?” he asked carefully, fully expecting to be brushed off. So he was surprised when Ladybug actually started talking.

“My parents are mad at me. That’s three times in the past two weeks I’ve had to run out on helping them at the bakery,” she said fretfully. “Maman scolded me last night. She said I’ve become really undependable lately, and that she’s disappointed in me.”

“Ladybug…” Chat wasn’t sure what to say to that. He was familiar with how deep parental disappointment could cut, but Ladybug’s parents actually loved her. That was a big difference.

“And my friends are mad at me too. Every time we make plans, I’m either late or miss out altogether. Or they invite Lila.” Ladybug’s nose scrunched up as though she’d smelled something fowl.

Chat went very, very still.

“I get that they like her and everything, but she’s just so awful. She undermines me _all the time_ and she _lies_ to them and they _never_ question it. It’s just so frustrating!” Ladybug wiped at her eyes again. “They think I’m jealous because Lila likes Adrien, but it’s not about that. She threatened me. And… and she’s just such a horrible liar!”

There was a dull roaring in Chat’s ears. He stared at her, open-mouthed.

“I know I’m not supposed to say this, but I hate her. She’s making a bad situation so much worse.” Ladybug sniffed. “I just… I _hate_ the fact that everyone in my life thinks I’m someone that I’m not. And I can’t even properly explain anything because I can’t tell anyone who I am!”

She was breathing hard after that last bit, her shoulders heaving as she fought back more tears. The shock and realization roaring through Chat slowly changed to awe and compassion as all of the puzzle pieces fell into place.

“I know who you are,” he said gently, and she turned to face him.

“You don’t, though. You’re like everyone else. You only know parts of me,” she said tearfully. “I’m sure it’s the same for you.”

Chat shook his head. “No, Ladybug - _I know who you are_.”

Her eyebrows furrowed and then a look of horror came over her face as she got it. “What?! How?!”

“Lila Rossi is a fucking bitch,” Chat said frankly. “And I only have one friend who’s parents own a bakery, and who’s life Lila is trying to ruin. Marinette.”

Ladybug stared at him. “How… who…”

“And you should know,” Chat went on. “That I have absolutely _zero interest_ in Lila.”

Her mouth dropped open. “A-A-Adrien?!”

He nodded and took her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. He hated the fact that Marinette… that his partner… had been so miserable for so long, but that no one had seen it. It was time someone stood up for _her_ , the way she’d always stood up for everyone else.

“Just rest, My Lady,” he breathed. Her face turned bright red. Chat smiled and stood up.

“Wait. Where… where are you going?” Ladybug asked, looking completely shocked.

Chat grinned cheerfully. “To Catscylsm Lila’s face. No one threatens _my_ partner and gets away with it.”


	3. Patrol

Ladybug paced back and forth, rubbing at her upper arms in a vain attempt to keep warm. Her eyes continuously swept across the Parisian skyline, hoping to see a familiar, black-suited figure coming towards her.

Nothing. Still _nothing_.

Chat was over an hour late for patrol. They were supposed to meet at half past ten and it was almost midnight. Ladybug had slowly progressed from annoyance to anger to worry as her texts and calls went unanswered.

Plagg would be able to tell Chat that she was trying to contact him, she knew, because Tikki had done the same for her before. And Chat had never been this late before. She couldn’t push away the thought that something might have happened to Chat in his civilian form.

And she wouldn’t know.

“Ugh, I _hate_ this,” Ladybug muttered to herself. She blinked hard and shivered, curling in on herself. Maybe she should give up for the night and try again tomorrow. She knew from experience that it was only going to get colder as the night wore on, and she was already _freezing_.

But she didn’t want to miss Chat. She decided to give him until midnight and bounced on her heels in an effort to warm up. A few flakes of snow drifted down past her nose. Ladybug looked up at the gathering clouds overhead.

“Ladybug!”

She’d never been as happy to hear someone’s voice as she was to hear Chat’s at that moment. Ladybug turned as he landed on the rooftop and bounded towards her.

“I’m so sorry!” Chat exclaimed breathlessly. “I got held up at my civilian job. Everything was going wrong and my father was so pissed off he insisted that no one was allowed to leave until we got it right!” He slid to a stop in front of her and bent down, bracing his hands on his knees, to catch his breath.

“It’s fine,” Ladybug said, frustration and concern giving way to _relief_. Chat looked more tired than usual, but he was okay. That was all that mattered.

“It’s not fine. It’s so cold out. You must be freezing.” He straightened and, looking worried, opened his arms.

Ladybug immediately stepped into his embrace and sighed happily as their bodies came into contact. He was _deliciously_ warm; Black Cats pumped out more heat than the average human being in the wintertime to make up for their Ladybug’s aversion to the cold. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

“So good for Ladybug,” she sighed, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest, and felt him chuckle.

“What would you think…” he trailed off. When he didn’t finish his sentence, Ladybug frowned.

“Think about what?” she prompted.

“If we exchanged numbers?” Chat said hesitantly. “So… we could have a way to contact each other if this happened again?”

Ladybug stared at the horizon without answering, frowning. It was dangerous. They both knew that. There was a chance, however small, that they knew each other in their civilian lives. Plus, she had the feeling that this would lead to some crossed lines. Her instinct was to say no.

It was only her experience tonight that stopped her. She’d spent the last hour and a half genuinely worried, bordering on scared, that something had happened to Chat. Unless Plagg was able to find her, Ladybug would never know if that was the case - and vice versa. She tightened her grip on Chat.

“Okay,” she said.

“Really?” Chat sounded so delighted that she couldn’t help smiling in response.

“Really.” It would probably lead to the end of their secret identities eventually, she thought. But she couldn’t bring herself to be too worried about that right now.

“This is _paw_ -some!” Chat said.

Ladybug groaned. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

He giggled mischievously. “Oh yeah.”


	4. Baby-Sitting

“Chat! Chat, come here!” Ladybug called desperately, stretching her arms out.

“No!” The pint-sized Chat Noir scowled and clung even more tightly to the trunk of the tree. “I don’t know you!”

Ladybug bit her lip, trying not to let on how much that comment stung. And worse yet, this was _all her fault_. _She_ was the one who’d sent Chat up to act as a distraction. _She_ was the one who had tripped sneaking up on the akuma before she could get to the akuma’s object. Chat had immediately tried to distract the akuma again, only to end up… well.

He was about four years old now, give or take. Or at least, that was her best estimation. She’d barely gotten the chance to say his name before he had taken off up the tree. And now he was staunchly refusing to come down, not that she could really blame him.

“You _do_ know me. I’m Ladybug,” she said. “We’re partners. We’re heroes!”

“Nuh uh!” Chat shook his head. “Père says I’m not good ‘nough to do anything.”

Okay, wow. Ladybug was going to kill Chat’s father someday. She clenched her hands into fists, then forced herself to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Very slowly. He was just a little kid, she reminded herself. Most kids like one thing.

“That’s not true at all, _Petit Chaton_. You’re just as strong as me,” she said. “And superheroes need to keep up their strength. Won’t you come down and have some pastries with me?”

“Pastries?” Chat’s eyes widened with interest, and he sat up and looked at her. His ears perked up, standing up straight. Ladybug smiled.

“My maman and papa own a wonderful bakery,” she stage-whispered loudly. “We could have cookies or cake or macarons. As many as you like.”

Chat squealed and ran to the edge of the branch. Ladybug’s heart stopped when he carelessly jumped. She rushed forward, arms outstretched, and caught him mere seconds before he would’ve hit the ground. She scooped him up and held him close.

“There you go. That’s my kitty,” she murmured, hugging him tightly. He was so _tiny_. He fit comfortably in her eyes, especially when he wound his little arms around her neck. It made her heart ache.

“Cookies?” Chat asked, looking up at her hopefully.

“We just have to make a couple stops first,” Ladybug said. She had to get the Fox, Turtle and Bee miraculous from Master Fu. Maybe she could leave Chat there with him while the rest of them tracked down that damned akuma.

That was, if Nino, Alya and Chloé hadn’t been turned into children too. Ladybug hoped not. She didn’t think she could do this by herself, and Chat wasn’t going to be of any help. Not like this.

“I hope Master Fu is prepared for baby-sitting duty,” she muttered, holding Chat with one arm and winding up her yo-yo with the other.


	5. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a companion piece to my [Ladrien June Day 12: Future](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19046746/chapters/45618220%E2%80%9C) entry by popular demand.

One moment Ladybug was standing in front of an akuma. One red beam of light later, the world flipped upside down and spit her out on a Parisian rooftop. Ladybug literally rolled to a stop, her stomach churning.

She felt completely disoriented and, when she looked up, _lost_. There was something about the skyline that didn’t look _right_ , even though she couldn’t put her finger on what the difference was. It was Paris, but it wasn’t, and that was terrifying.

“Ah, _Petite Coccinelle_! I’ve been waiting for this for _ages_.”

Ladybug jumped and spun around, but that proved to be a mistake. She bent double, clutching at her stomach, and retched. Immediately there was a hand holding her pigtails back, another hand gently cupping her forehead, and a soft voice crooning in her ear.

“Ch-Chat?” she whispered when she was done, straightening up.

Chat Noir smiled at her, but it wasn’t the Chat she was used to. She thought that it was definitely still _him_ , which was some consolation. He was just a lot _older_ than she was expecting. Probably about ten years older. Ladybug stared at him.

“Alright?” he asked with a kind smile. “It’s okay, Baby Bug. You’re in the future. The akuma sent you here. From what I remember, _your_ future self got sent back to the past and is with _my_ past self. They beat the akuma, but it takes them a day or two to do it.”

Ladybug was quiet for a moment while she absorbed that. Then she looked around again. No wonder things seemed different if she was really ten years in the future. She swallowed hard, fisting her shaking hands.

“So… so I just wait around while they do all the work?” she asked, and thought she’d done a pretty good job of sounding like her normal self until Chat gave her another too kind smile.

“It’ll be okay, Marinette. I’ll take care of you,” he said.

“You know who I am?!” she gasped in shock.

Chat chuckled. “I do. And someday you’ll know who I am too. I assure you, it’s a _paws_ -itively _claw_ -some revelation.”

“Ugh, now I know it’s really you,” she said, making a face, and he laughed. But she couldn’t deny that the lame puns made something shaky in her chest feel steadier. It really was Chat, and she was _always_ safe with him.

“I can’t take you home with me, because it would reveal too much. But I’ll rent a hotel room,” he told her. “We can stay there.”

“We? But I can’t -” she began.

He cut her off with a soft snort and a wave of his hand. “Know who I am, I know. I forgot how _cute_ you were when you got all bossy about our identities.”

He grinned at her and she felt a flutter in her stomach. She’d been feeling it around her own Chat as of late, but it was harder to ignore right now. This Chat was tall and broad in the shoulders, with a strong, stubbled jaw. But he had those same green eyes, twinkling at her, and messy blond hair that fell over his mask, and it was doing _things_ to her.

“S-So we’ll stay transformed the whole time?” Ladybug said, hating the way she stuttered. She supposed that _she_ didn’t need to stay transformed, since he knew who she was, but it would feel way too awkward to detransform around Chat.

“You have my word, Little Lady,” he promised. “Come on. I’m sure Tikki is exhausted.”

He scooped her up and she squeaked; she was used to Chat holding her, but he was so much _bigger_ now. She felt completely dwarfed by him. But as he turned to leap off the roof, she realized it wasn’t a bad feeling. Just… overwhelming.

It was going to be an interesting couple of days.


	6. Lucky Charm

For a long moment after Ladybug caught her Charm, there was silence. Rena Rouge, Chat, and Carapace all stared at her.

Then Chat said blankly, “Is that a pair of lips?”

Ladybug blushed furiously and snapped, “There must be some other explanation, okay?”

She looked down at the big, red, black-spotted pair of plastic lips and scowled. Tikki had a really weird sense of humor sometimes. She’d gotten weird Lucky Charms before, but this had to be somewhere near the top in terms of sheer bizarreness.

“Ooookay,” Chat said doubtfully, and looked at her expectantly.

Ladybug frowned back before glancing around, waiting for something around them to turn red with black spots. But she didn’t see anything, and no fantastic or far-fetched plan leaped to mind, until she turned back to Chat. Immediately, his mouth flashed red.

_Kiss Chat_.

The thought jumped into her head and refused to leave. Ladybug twitched, trying not to stare at her partner. This had to be Tikki’s revenge for all those nights Marinette had lain in bed whining about her confusing, maybe-but-not-really feelings for Chat.

“Ladybug?” Rena prompted.

“Ugh, _fine_ ,” Ladybug said. She turned on her heel and stomped over to her partner.

“Ladybug?” Chat said uncertainly.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” she said, wondering if Chat, Rena and Carapace could hear the lack of conviction in her voice as well as she could.

“ _What_ doesn’t mean anything?” Chat looked torn between hope and confusion.

By way of response, she reached out and cupped his face. Chat went very, very still and stared at her with wide eyes. Ladybug stepped closer and leaned up, closing her eyes seconds before their lips made contact.

“Holy shit,” Carapace whispered.

Rena gasped behind them, and then gave a muffled squeal of _pure joy_ that made Ladybug inwardly grimace. It was going to be a long time before she heard the end of this.

But then she forgot about Rena, because Chat had gone stiff as a board when she kissed him but now he was melting into it. His hands came up to gently grip her hips, and he tilted his head slightly so that their lips fit together better, and it was nice.

_Very_ nice.

Ladybug’s hand slid to the back of his neck without her notice, and she found herself tangling her fingers into the fine hair at the back of his neck. Her stomach was full of fluttering ~~butterflies~~ ladybugs, and, as Chat made a soft sound of utter contentment, she quickly realized that she didn’t want to stop.

Somewhere behind them she was vaguely aware of the sound of Carapace’s shield whistling through the air, followed by the unmistakable sound of something breaking. But those weren’t important. She was _far_ more interested in the sound Chat made when she nipped at his bottom lip.

“Uh, Ladybug?” Carapace said.

“Shh! You’ll disturb them!” Rena hissed.

“That’s what I’m trying to do.”

“Carapace, so help me god, if you _disrupt_ _my_ _ship sailing_ -”

“The akuma!” Carapace said loudly, and Ladybug snapped to attention and jerked away.

She stared at Chat, at his flushed cheeks and puffy lips, and felt a surge of desire that left her weak at the knees. She _wanted_ him, she realized in a sudden burst of clarity. It wasn’t just a tiny, silly crush the way she’d told herself it was, she _loved_ him.

When had that happened?

“The akuma,” Chat said quietly, touching his lips.

“What?” she said dazedly.

He pointed overhead and she dumbly followed his finger until she spotted the butterfly that was trying to flap away. Ladybug immediately grabbed her yo-yo and launched herself into the air after it.

“I free you from evil! Bye bye, little butterfly.” She retrieved the plastic lips and, blushing, threw them into the sky with a cry of, “Miraculous Ladybug!”

“It was easy,” Carapace was saying when she returned to them. “The akuma just stopped and stood there and stared at you guys.”

“Can you blame it?” Rena said dreamily, staring at Chat and Ladybug. Ladybug could only imagine the post that was going to appear on the Ladyblog tonight.

“Uh, well, I’ll help the victim,” Chat said, scratching the back of his neck. He caught Ladybug’s eye and then looked away, blushing. Probably because she was staring at him. Oh god, she couldn’t _stop staring_.

“Ladybug? Our miraculous? You’re going to change back soon?” Carapace said.

“Uh, right. Right. Let’s go.” Yet as she went, she looked back again at Chat. He happened to look back at her too, and their eyes met. That same feeling of _warmth_ and _want_ surged through her. Ladybug swallowed and watched as Chat licked his lips, and all she wanted to do was run back to him and do that herself so she could find out what his lips tasted like again.

She was _so_ screwed.


	7. Bad Luck Charm

Chat’s muscles burned pleasantly as he sat down and leaned back against the wall. Patrol always left him feeling tired in a good way, but tonight he was too apprehensive to enjoy it. He pressed his hand to his pocket and glanced over at his lady. She was stretched out beside him, looking up at the stars, totally relaxed.

“Hey Bugaboo?” Chat said, working to keep his voice steady.

“What?”

“I have a weird favor to ask.”

Ladybug looked over at him, her expression somewhere between concerned and curious. “What’s up, _Chaton_?”

He loved the way that word sounded in her voice. It made his stomach flutter. He said, “A friend of mine gave me this good luck charm a while ago. It worked for a little while, but not so much lately.”

“Okay,” Ladybug said slowly. 

“Well, me being the embodiment of bad luck and all, I thought maybe over-exposure to me had… I don’t know, drained it of its good luck.” Chat tried to smile. “Do you think you could…”

“What? Re-imbue it with good luck?” Ladybug raised an eyebrow. “Chat, you know that’s not really how our powers work right? I can’t just _make_ something lucky by -” She stopped, looking at his face, and then sighed. “Of course. I’ll give it my best shot.”

The tension drained out of him and Chat smiled for real this time. He’d been afraid that Ladybug would mock him, but he should’ve known better. His lady was too good of a person for that. He knew she was just humoring him, but he still felt better as he reached into his pocket and took out the lucky charm that Marinette had given him so long ago.

“So how do you think you drained it - holy shit.” Ladybug’s eyes bulged.

“What?” Chat asked, confused. “What’s wrong?”

“Where did you say you got that?” she asked in a strangled voice, staring at the lucky charm like she’d seen a ghost.

“A friend gave it to me to cheer me up,” Chat replied. “I carry it with me all the time, but lately it doesn’t seem to be working right. Either I’ve turned it into a bad luck charm, or I’m having one hell of a horrible week.”

Ladybug opened and closed her mouth a few times without speaking, then squinted at him. She was silent for a long time, her eyes moving from his face to the bracelet and back again, so long that Chat started to get nervous again.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“Is something wrong?” Ladybug repeated, and gave a shrill giggle. “Oh my god, Adrien, we are both… _so_ _stupid_.”

He froze at hearing his name. “W-what?”

“It’s me, Marinette,” Ladybug said, and he stared at her in dumbfounded silence as she gently took the bracelet from his hand. “Let me keep this for the weekend. I’ll give it back on Monday. I have to go have a breakdown now, so I’ll see you later. Bye!”

She leaped off the rooftop without another word, leaving Chat sitting there, still frozen in shock.


	8. Homework

Ladybug rolled over onto her stomach and whined pitifully into the cement. At least laying face down meant she didn’t have to stare at her homework anymore. Though she could still feel it there. Watching. Waiting.

“Uhhhh Ladybug?”

And there was Chat, right on schedule to see her acting like a toddler. Figuring she might as well make the most of her humiliation, Ladybug let out another whine. Maybe she could get a sympathy back-rub out of him.

“What’s wrong?” Chat sounded somewhere between concerned and amused.

“I hate maaaaaath,” Ladybug moaned.

“Oh, you’re doing homework.” He’d tipped over into fully amused now that he knew she wasn’t hurt.

“So _hard_ ,” she whimpered, gently knocking her forehead against the ground.

“Do you… do you want my help?” Chat asked. “It’s okay if you don’t. I just know a little something about math. It’s my favorite subject.”

Thoroughly appalled, Ladybug lifted her head to stare at him.

He smiled sheepishly and rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck. “I know. But I like it. It makes sense to me.”

“Then I envy you, because it makes less than zero sense to me,” Ladybug muttered, dropping her head back down.

Bringing her homework on patrol wasn’t usually something she did. But she was really worried about the big math test they were having this Friday. It was going to count for something like 30% of their grade, and she didn’t feel _at all_ ready.

However, she had dreamed up several scenarios wherein she failed her test and her parents were horrified and she got expelled and had to go live with family overseas to avoid the shame of it all, so you know. Her imagination was working just fine.

Chat’s boots clicked lightly as he moved closer and dropped down beside her to sit cross-legged. “It can’t be that bad, My Lady. You’re very smart. Oh hey, this looks really similar to what my class is working on.” He flipped through her book. “That means I can -”

He stopped so abruptly that Ladybug blinked at the cement centimeters from her nose, then lifted her head to look up at him again. He was staring at both her math book and her half-finished worksheet like he’d seen a ghost.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Don’t tell me those problems are too much for you after all.” She didn’t know what she would do if that happened.

He slowly shook his head. “No, I just… I finished this _exact_ worksheet right before I came out for patrol.”

Ladybug froze too. “Maybe… maybe they’re used all over Paris,” she suggested desperately.

“Maybe…” Chat said hesitantly. Then he picked up the worksheet and turned it around so she could see it. “But I don’t think there’s a ‘Marinette Agreste’ at any other school in Paris, is there?”

The feeling that went through Ladybug right then could only be described as _sheer horror_ as her eyes took in the name at the top of the worksheet, scribbled in what was unmistakably Alya’s handwriting. She suddenly remembered grabbing her worksheet back from Alya right before they left class and Alya’s big smirk.

Oh my god. Oh my gooooooood. OH MY GOD. Ladybug’s brain was on fire. She could only stare and gibber uselessly. She didn’t know if she was freaking out because Chat knew who he was, or because the whole ‘Marinette Agreste’ thing was a pretty significant give away into who she was crushing on.

“Is that you, Marinette?” Chat asked, leaning forward to look at her intently.

She jerked away and squeaked something unintelligible. But Chat nodded as though what she said made perfect sense and smiled shyly.

“Then… you do like me? Or at least the civilian me?” he asked, hope shining in his eyes.

All of her internal flailing immediately stopped. Ladybug stared at him, really _stared_ , and came to a pretty shocking conclusion. She sucked at math, but even she could add 2+2 and come up with 4.

“Adrien?” she whispered faintly.

He nodded. “It’s me. And I mean, this is… wow.” He looked back down at her worksheet and broke into a huge grin, touching the name reverently. Like it was something precious.

A few things occurred to Ladybug all at once. One, Chat really _was_ in love with her. Two, she was going to have the biggest freaking breakdown when she got back to her room. And three, she owed Alya a huge basket of pastries.

“ _Chaton_ ,” she managed, and he looked up at her. His eyes, Adrien’s eyes, made her heart flutter. She couldn’t take it. She dropped her head back against the ground.

“Uh, Ladybug?”

“Yes, I like you. Now just give me five minutes to scream internally,” she wheezed.

“Okay.” He sounded like he was going to be doing some internal screaming of his own.

That was fine. It was fine. It was _all fine_. She lightly thunked her forehead against the ground again and listened to the sound of Chat’s overjoyed squeaking. In spite of herself, she had to smile. He was a dork, but he was _her_ dork.


	9. A Helping Hand

The heavy chunk of concrete caught Ladybug by surprise, knocking her Lucky Charm from her hand and driving her to the ground. She landed with a yelp and a sharp pain that shot up her back. The concrete was incredibly heavy and she gasped for breath.

“Oh, poor little bug. Can’t handle an akuma without her kitty,” the akuma said with false sympathy.

Ladybug gritted her teeth. Chat had told her he had to leave town for one week. Just _one week_. She’d thought for sure she would be able to handle whatever came her way, especially since she would be able to seek the help of Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee if necessary.

But then the akumas started coming. And coming. And _coming_. She hadn’t slept in three days. Her arms trembled with exhaustion when she gripped the edge of the concrete slab and tried to lift it. This akuma was so busy, and so determined to keep _her_ busy, that she couldn’t even get to Master Fu.

“Don’t worry. You know how you put a bug out of its misery?” the akuma taunted. “You _squash it_.”

She watched in horror as another, considerably larger, slab of concrete was levitated over her.

“I’ll just pick up your miraculous from the remains,” the akuma said with a nasty smile.

The concrete slab began to fall. Ladybug squeezed her eyes shut.

“Catacylsm!”

Her eyes snapped open just in time to see the slab falling towards her dissolve. Then suddenly Chat was there, his features set with grim fury, as he pulled at the piece of concrete pinning her down. Together, they were able to heft it off of her.

“Need a hand?” Chat asked, aiming for levity. But it fell flat; he sounded way too concerned as he looked her over for injuries.

“I’m _so_ glad to see you,” Ladybug said. Her voice cracked, much to her embarrassment. She realized that she wanted nothing more than to drag him back to her bed so she could fall asleep on him.

“I’m sorry it took me so long,” Chat said gently. “Rest here, My Lady. Leave this akuma to me.” He reached for his baton and took off.

Normally Ladybug would’ve ignored his offer and jumped back into action, but not today. She was too tired. She sat there and watched as Chat literally beat the akuma into submission in less than a minute. When it was cowering on the ground, he grabbed its sunglasses and broke them. The butterfly fluttered out.

“I free you from evil! Gotcha! Bye bye, little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!”

The red light surrounded her too, taking away most of her injuries. But the fatigue remained, and Ladybug swayed dizzily on the spot. Chat came over to her quickly, lightly gripping her arm.

“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

“Fine,” she said through a yawn. “What are you doing home so early?”

“I cut the trip short. I could tell you needed me,” he answered.

“I do. I really do.” She leaned into him and he let it happen, bringing his arms up to wrap loosely around her waist.

“You can’t fall asleep. You’re going to transform back,” he said.

“Then take me home,” she mumbled.

Chat tensed in surprise. “Ladybug?”

She pulled herself up until her lips were close to ear and whispered, “My name is Marinette. Take me _home_ , Chat.”

He was still for a beat longer, out of shock no doubt, before he moved, scooping her up and using his baton to propel them to the rooftops. They were back at the bakery in less than two minutes; he hit the balcony just as her transformation released.

“Wanna nap?” she asked with a sleepy smile, winding her arms around his neck. He sputtered for a few seconds and set her legs down, though she stayed close.

“I - that’s - you don’t even know who I am,” he said, just as his transformation ended.

“Now I do,” she said simply. When she wasn’t so _fucking exhausted_ that being awake took all of her strength, she would freak. She would also deal with Tikki’s disapproving frown and Plagg’s cackling.

But for now, she grabbed her kitty’s hand and pulled him inside to sleep.


	10. Disguises

“I do _not_ like this akuma.”

“You say that about _every_ akuma.”

“Well it’s doubly true this time around.” Chat huffed and folded his arms over his chest. “It’s reminding me too much of Chameleon.”

Ladybug flinched slightly. “Don’t say that. At least this akuma can’t disguise itself as a person.”

“I’m not sure that being able to disguise itself as any object is any better,” Chat said dryly. He’d had the living daylights scared out of him twenty minutes ago when he went to take a seat on what appeared to be a normal park bench.

Pro-tip: having a park bench come to life beneath you and try to grab at your miraculous is _not_ good for your blood pressure.

“Yeah.” Ladybug sighed and put her hands on her hips. “What do you say? Time for some luck?”

“Can’t hurt.”

“Lucky Charm!” she called out, casting her yo-yo over her head. In a burst of red light, a miniature version of the park’s fountain fell into Ladybug’s hands.

She looked at the Charm, then up at Chat. Then they simultaneously turned to look at the fountain. It lit up in red in Ladybug’s vision, as did Chat’s hand and her yo-yo.

“That’s relatively straightforward,” she remarked, wiggling her fingers at Chat.

He saluted her and shouted, “Catsclysm!” His hand darkened with black and he started forward.

Ladybug followed right behind him. She had noticed that there was a split second pause between when the akuma was unmasked and when it could either run away or transform into something else. She was tired of second-guessing every object she touched; it was time to end this.

Chat lunged forward, hand out-stretched, like he was going to touch the fountain. The akuma let out a high-pitched squeal of horror and transformed back. Water kept gushing into the air without the fountain to moderate it, and Chat yowled in displeasure as he was soaked.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Ladybug shouted, quickly throwing out her yo-yo. It wound around the akuma, pinning it in place.

As soon as the akuma was trapped, Chat grabbed its object, a necklace, and used his Catacylsm on it. The necklace dissolved and the butterfly came out. Ladybug released the akuma and swung her yo-yo again, capturing the butterfly.

“I free you from evil! Gotcha! Bye bye, little butterfly.” She watched the white butterfly rise up over their heads.

“My Lady,” Chat whined. She turned and saw him looking pathetic, standing there completely drenched.

“Aww, _mon_ _minou_. Did you get wet?” Ladybug asked, fighting hard not to smile.

Chat scowled at her, clearly sensing her amusement, and flattened his ears. That just made him look like a pouting, sulky kitty, which was actually pretty adorable. Ladybug’s heart might have melted a bit.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got just the fix,” she said, retrieving her Charm. She threw it into the air and called out, “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Red light flared out across the city. In the blink of an eye, Chat was dry and smiling. Ladybug grinned back and sauntered towards him, flush with the satisfaction of another day saved. She held out her fist and bumped it against his.

“Pound it!”


	11. Vigilante

“The police in this town aren’t doing a good enough job! I’ll make sure no one breaks the law anymore! Starting with you, Chat Noir!”

Chat fought back an alarmed yelp as his legs suddenly refused to move. He had just enough time to twist his body in anticipation of the hard fall before he hit. He struck the ground and tumbled head over heels, coming to a stop several feet away from his intended landing spot.

Vigilante laughed smugly above him. “That’s what you get for breaking the law.”

“I’m not breaking the law,” Chat said through gritted teeth, pushing himself up to check out the problem. Handcuffs had appeared around his ankles mid-jump and that’s what had sent him sprawling.

“I disagree,” Vigilante said in a sing-song tone. “You and Ladybug think you can get away with anything just because you claim to be superheroes. Well, the police of Paris might be too cowardly to stop you but I’m not!”

“Cataclysm!” Chat hissed, grabbing the cuffs. They dissolved and he scrambled to his feet, wincing. He was pretty sure he’d broken a couple of ribs and bruised himself from head to toe in that fall. _Everything_ hurt.

“Get ready, Chat Noir!”

With a loud whizzing sound, Queen Bee’s stinger wrapped around the akuma’s arm. “I don’t _think_ so.”

“ _Chaton_ , come here.” Ladybug appeared at his side, quickly fitting herself beneath his arm and helping to take his weight. She backed him away from the fight as Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee engaged Vigilante.

“You have good timing,” Chat wheezed. He was reassessing his earlier estimate. He’d broken more than just his ribs. Fire lanced up his right foot with every step, so bad that his leg kept buckling.

“Where’s your baton? Why didn’t you use it to break your fall?” Ladybug asked, eyes wide and worried as she gently helped him to sit.

“Confiscated,” Chat said with a grimace. He leaned back and shut his eyes.

Ladybug knelt, looking him over with a familiar glitter in her blue eyes as she catalogued every injury. She was well and truly enraged. Chat _almost_ pitied the akuma. Almost.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back,” Ladybug said finally. She leaned in and kissed his cheek, then retreated and stood.

As much as he wanted to pass out, Chat forced himself to stay awake. It was nothing short of satisfying to watch the way that Ladybug unleashed pure fury on the akuma. With the help of Queen Bee’s venom, Vigilante was swiftly paralyzed on the ground. Ladybug released the akuma, caught it and purified it.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” she shouted. Chat groaned with relief as her magic enveloped him, easing his pain and healing him. Even his baton returned, and he strapped it back in place.

“Thank you, My Lady,” he said, shakily getting to his feet. He was back to normal, but sometimes it was a little hard to shake off the memory of being severely injured.

“You stay,” she commanded, pointing at him. “You three, lets go.”

Chat held up his hands and watched as she left with Queen Bee, Carapace and Rena. While waiting, he headed over to the victim - a young man in his early twenties who’d been mugged three nights ago. The perpetrator had yet to be caught.

It wasn’t always easy to console akuma victims. Chat did the best he could, sending the guy on his way with a reassuring comment. The guy just nodded and slunk away with a bowed head, and Chat watched him go with a heavy heart. Bad enough to live through being mugged. Having Hawkmoth take advantage of that made an awful situation even worse.

“Chaton?” Ladybug walked up behind him.

He turned to face her. “You gotta take those back to Master Fu?”

Ladybug shook her head. “He can wait a bit. I thought I might come over to your house. I thought…” She blushed and mumbled something.

“What?” Chat said, confused.

“I thought we could take a hot shower and then I could give you a massage,” she blurted out. “I know sometimes the miraculous cure can leave you stiff and sore after.”

Chat cocked his head, intrigued. “A shower… _together_?”

Her blush deepened, and she coyly bit her lip as she looked up at him beneath her lashes, but she nodded.

His heart might have stuttered once or twice. Or stopped entirely. Chat nodded so furiously that he was left feeling dizzy, but it was worth it to see the way Ladybug’s face lit up into a radiant smile.

“Shall we?” she said, holding her arm out.

Chat slid into her grip, wrapping his arms around her, and cuddled into her as she threw her yo-yo out. The journey home had never seemed so long.


	12. Tears

“Say mercy.”

“Never.”

“Say it!” Ladybug demanded again.

“No!”

Chat was grinning, she could tell, even though his face was smushed into concrete and she was sitting on top of him. She won their spars about 50% of the time, which was to be expected - after five years, they knew each other a little _too_ well and they really were a perfect match.

So Ladybug decided to up the game.

“Fine then. I’ll just have to get it out of you some other way,” she said slyly. She did happen to have a hand free, since she was able to use her legs to pin his.

“What do you mean?” Chat asked nervously.

She grinned at the back of his head and moved her free hand down to his ribs. She lightly ran the tips of her fingers across his ribs. Chat made a shocked sound and jerked in an effort to get away from her touch, but he couldn’t move enough to do so.

“Say mercy or you’re in for it,” Ladybug said.

“No,” he repeated, this time with far less confidence.

“Okay. You asked for it!”

He let out a squeal when she began tickling him in earnest, writhing and squirming and giggling. Ladybug’s grin broadened. She didn’t often get to hear Chat _really_ laugh. It was music to her ears.

“My Lady - come on - ” Chat begged after less than two minutes.

“You know what to say,” she told him. By rocking their weights, she discovered that she could get her hand under them and tickle his belly.

He _really_ started laughing then, even as he also started struggling hard. Ladybug squeaked as she lost her grip and he suddenly flipped them, rolling so that he was on top and she was pinned on her back. There were tears of laughter on his face but he was smiling, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

“What was that about a punishment?” he asked, and she immediately began bucking and squealing as he started tickling her ribs and belly.

They played together, rolling around on the rooftop, until both of them were exhausted and wiping tears of laughter from their eyes. Finally, Chat flopped down on his back and groaned.

“My stomach hurts from laughing,” he complained.

“Mine too,” she said, flipping down beside him and immediately scooching closer so she could rest her head on his chest. A purr immediately thrummed to life beneath her ear and she smiled.

“You’re a menace, Bugaboo.”

“Hey, I told you what you needed to say to make it stop,” she said.

Chat snorted. “Yeah, all I needed to do was admit that you won.”

“I did win!”

“If I recall, I never did concede,” he pointed out smugly.

Ladybug sputtered. “That doesn’t matter!” She sat up and glared at him.

He grinned up at her. “Round… uh, I’ve lost count. But again?”

“You’re on. This time, I’m going to win again _and_ make you admit it,” Ladybug said fiercely.

“Don’t be so sure. Now that you’ve brought out the underhanded tactics, I have a couple aces up my sleeve too,” Chat said with a smirk.

“Oh, like what?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

He popped up unexpectedly and leaned in to kiss her. Ladybug froze. Then, before she could even think, she was suddenly flat on stomach with her hands and legs securely pinned.

“Like that,” Chat teased.

Ladybug sighed and thunked her forehead against the ground, glad that he couldn’t see her blushing cheeks. “You’re _awful_ , _Chaton_.”

He just laughed.


	13. Hairstyles

Chat was feeling good as he used his baton to propel himself out of the alley. For once, this akuma had _excellent_ timing. He‘s been right in the middle of a photo shoot that wasn’t going right, but everyone had taken off when the akuma attacked.

He landed on the rooftop right next to Ladybug, a smile already on his face. “Good afternoon, My Lady! Of course, it’s only a _good_ afternoon because you’re -”

Ladybug screamed.

Chat jumped, looking around in a panic, but the akuma was two blocks away. “What?! What?!”

“Oh my god,” Ladybug whispered. “ _Adrien_?!”

He stared at her in shock. “A-A-Adrien?! I don’t know who you’re talking about!”

“Your _hair_ ,” Ladybug said. When he just kept staring at her, she gripped his shoulders and roughly spun him around.

It was Chat’s turn to scream.

For this photo shoot, the photographer wanted to make a _statement_. Originally he’d wanted Adrien’s blond hair dyed pink. Gabriel had quickly put his foot down on that. The compromise had been that Adrien’s hair was dyed a very pretty shade of green, the exact color of his eyes.

It wasn’t a permanent dye, so it had to be refreshed every few days until the photo shoots were done. Which meant he’d gone to school with green hair. Which meant everyone who had seen him already knew he had green hair.

He hadn’t expected the change to follow him into his transformation. After all, transforming changed his hairstyle. Why couldn’t it change the color too?

“What the hell, Plagg?!” Chat screamed at his reflection, clasping his hands to his hair.

“Oh my god,” Ladybug said, pressing both hands to her face. “I’ve _kissed_ Adrien Agreste. I _turned down_ Adrien Agreste. I can’t decide if this is the best day of my life or the worst.”

“Is this the time to tell you that my offer for a date still stands?” Chat asked, turning to look at her with interest.

Ladybug glared at him.

“Because I mean, it totally does.”

Her glare deepened.

“I can kiss you again if that’ll seal the deal.” He leaned in.

She pressed her finger to his nose to push him away. “Now is _not the tim_ e, Chat. There’s an akuma on the loose, remember?”

“Oh. Right. So that’s a no on the date?”

“I said it’s not the time. I didn’t say _no_ ,” Ladybug snapped.

“So that’s a yes?” he asked.

“Ugh, _boys_.” Ladybug grabbed his face and kissed him. It lasted three seconds and was still enough to completely fry his brain. She spoke to him, but the words went completely over his green head.

“Huh?” he said dazedly.

She sighed loudly. “Focus, _Chaton_! You need to find a hat or something to cover your hair before Alya sees you. She will definitely jump to the same conclusion I did.”

“Oh. Right. My hair,” Chat said.

Ladybug just rolled her eyes. “If it’ll make you move your butt faster, my name is Marinette and there’s a lot more kisses waiting for you after we beat the akuma.”

Chat stood straight up, staring at her with equal parts shock and adoration. “I’m going to kill it dead in thirty seconds.”

“Hat first. CHAT! HAT FIRST ! _Get back here_!”


	14. Sick Day

When Chat flubbed his fifth landing of the day, Ladybug knew for sure that something was wrong. She stared at him as he scrabbled to safety, but he had his head down and didn’t seem to notice. He’d been unusually lethargic all night, slow to react and struggling to keep up.

“Okay, what’s up?” she said, planting her hands on her hips.

Chat looked up with a too-bright smile, cheeks flushed. “What do you mean? I’m fine. You’re fine. Paris is fine. It’s all fine.”

“Because people who are really fine don’t use the word ‘fine’ four times in one sentence,” she said dryly. “ _Chaton_ … are you sick?”

“What?” he said, a little too loud. “Of course not. Superheroes don’t get sick.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Ladybug said, narrowing her eyes and stepping closer to him. She took in the sweat beading up on his temples, even though it was a cool, bordering on cold, night. His cheeks were flushed, but the rest of his skin was pale. His eyes looked a little unfocused; he kept blinking at her and tipping his head from side to side.

She reached out to put her hand against his forehead. Chat immediately snapped his head back, leaving Ladybug blinking at him. He put his hands up to ward her off.

“I’m _not_ sick,” he said. “Really, I’m okay.”

Ladybug crossed her arms. “If you’re not sick, then what are you?”

“Fine,” Chat said, which she really should have expected. At her annoyed look, he relented slightly and added, “My Lady, you don’t understand. My family, we - we don’t _get_ sick. Sick days are for the weak.”

“I was sick three weeks ago,” she said slowly. There was an awful flu going around. “You think I’m weak?” 

The implication stung more than she wanted to admit.

“What?” Chat’s eyes widened. “No! Of course not!”

“I couldn’t get out of bed for three days. I was completely exhausted,” Ladybug added. “I had to take a week off school and didn’t show up patrol for four days.”

Chat was rapidly shaking his head. “No, no, Bugaboo. That’s not what I meant.” Then suddenly he stopped, grabbing his head and wincing and swaying.

Ladybug sighed and let go of her hurt. Of course it wasn’t what he’d meant. Chat was too kind for that. He did this all the time: he held himself to an impossible standard while simultaneously insisting that others didn’t need to do that. It was all the fault of his damn father. 

“You should go home,” she said.

“I’m better off out here with you,” Chat said, shooting her a small, bitter smile. “My room gives me nightmares.”

She didn’t know what to say to that.

“I’m just gonna rest here for a moment. Then I’ll be good to keep going,” Chat said. He sat down and beckoned for her to sit next to him, so she did. 

It was only a matter of minutes before Chat fell asleep, his head slowly sinking down onto her shoulder. This close, she could feel the heat radiating off of him. He was definitely sick. Her heart broke for him. It wasn’t fair. Chat deserved better than this.

They couldn’t stay out here forever; it was cold and it was only going to get colder, which would make him worse. Plus, she didn’t feel right leaving him alone. Ladybug chewed over the matter for at least a half an hour before she came to a decision. She stood, gathered her partner close, and jumped off the roof. It was a sign of how exhausted Chat was that he never even woke up.

She took him back to her bedroom and tucked him into her bed, smoothing the sweaty hair back from his mask. Whatever happened in the morning, they’d deal with it. If she could play this off without revealing her identity, that was great. If she couldn’t, well, she’d figure it out then. She kissed his forehead.

“Sleep well, _mon minou_.”


	15. Animal Tendencies

One thing that bothered Ladybug to no end was how bright her costume was. There was no doubt about it: the solid red color stood out like a beacon. Personally, Chat kind of liked it. People paid more attention to her, letting him slip into the background. He got enough attention as Adrien; he didn’t need it as Chat Noir.

Plus, the bright red suit made it extremely easy to see her sometimes.

He landed silently a few feet away, cocking his head in puzzlement. Ladybug was kneeling in the middle of a public garden, shoulders hunched down in an unmistakably furtive way. Whatever she was doing, she didn’t want to get caught.

Naturally, he took that as his cue and loudly said, “Hey LB! What’cha doing?”

Ladybug froze. She said… _something_ , but Chat couldn’t make out what because her words were strangely muffled. He strode closer and saw her working her jaw furiously, trying to chew something.

And then he saw the handful of de-petaled flowers at her knees.

“Are you…” Chat tried not to laugh and failed. “Are you _eating_ flowers?”

“No,” Ladybug said. A pink flower petal squeezed out between her lips and fluttered silently to the ground. They both stared at it for a moment.

Then Chat said, “Either you’re eating flowers or you’re playing a very odd game of ‘he loves me, he loves me not’. Which I won’t judge you for. I’ve played a fair few of those games myself. But I don’t usually _eat_ the petals after -”

Ladybug groaned and swallowed, shaking her head. “Enough, okay? Yes, I was eating them. I can’t help it. They’re _delicious_.” She licked her lips and looked hungrily around at the remaining flowers.

“What’s wrong with that?” Chat asked, genuinely curious. “Lot’s of people eat flowers. It’s not like, say, having your hairstylist touch the place where your cat ears usually sit and going into a hissing fit.”

Not that he was bitter or anything. But it had taken him a week’s worth of allowance to bribe his poor stylist into silence and several apologies before she would touch his hair again. Plagg had laughed until he cried.

A small smile touched her lips, but she shook her head. “It’s still weird. Especially since edible flowers cost too much and people look at you weird for eating normal flowers. And…” She looked wistful. “Even normal flowers are expensive when you buy them. My allowance goes to spending time with my friends and buying fa- err, to my hobby.”

“Ah, I see,” Chat said non-committedly. He knew Ladybug’s family wasn’t as well off as his own. But it wasn’t something they often talked about. Chat was used to his father and Nathalie being the roadblocks when he wanted something, not money or a lack thereof.

“Plus my parents always ask me what happened when I buy flowers and then suddenly they’re gone the next day.” She sighed and shrugged. “Normally I can control the craving, but these just looked so _pretty_.”

They were pretty flowers, Chat had to admit, even if they didn’t look appetizing. “I’m sure Paris wouldn’t mind sacrificing a few flowers to it’s superheroine.”

“It’s not right,” Ladybug insisted forlornly. She stood up and dusted off her knees. “Come on. Let’s go.”

And so they went, and Chat allowed the subject to drop because he could tell it was bothering her, but the issue bubbled away in the back of his head all through the next day. Being a miraculous holder was hard. It _changed_ you, for lack of a better word.

It wasn’t fair that Ladybug had to deny herself something so simple. If her craving was so bad she’d resorted to taking a few flowers even though she felt guilty about it, the craving wasn’t going to just go away. And it _had_ to be torturing her: flowers were everywhere in the spring.

The next time they met up for patrol, Chat brought a bag with him. Ladybug blinked at it curiously, then looked at him. He smiled in return and reached into the bag to withdraw a bouquet of flowers.

“For the lady,” he said, presenting them to her dramatically.

Ladybug’s mouth dropped open even as her face turned pink. “You… you brought me flowers?”

“As a snack,” Chat explained. “I have access to plenty of flowers through my job.” It wasn’t a lie exactly. They did often use flowers in photo shoots and no one seemed to care what happened to them after.

This particular bouquet had come from a street vendor, however. But Ladybug didn’t need to know that.

“Chat… you didn’t have to do that,” she said, staring at the bouquet as though mesmerized.

“I wanted to. You pet me and let me lay in your lap when I need it,” Chat said, his own face warming up. “This is no different. We’re in this together. Isn’t that what you always say to me?”

Ladybug was quiet for a moment, her expression unreadable, before she slowly nodded. “Okay. But I don’t need them every night.”

“A few times a week and no more,” he promised.

“Thank you.” She finally reached out and took the bouquet, her eyes fluttering shut as she caught the fragrance of the flowers. She inhaled deeply, then let it out with a slow sigh.

“God that smells heavenly,” she murmured. “Better than freshly baked macarons. Will you sit with me while I eat?”

“Of course.”

They sat on the edge of the roof. Ladybug was a bit embarrassed at first, but once she realized that he wasn’t upset that she was eating his gift and that he truly wasn’t judging her, she crammed them into her mouth as fast as she could.

Chat was familiar with that. Before Ladybug had started petting him on a regular basis, he’d been going out of his _mind_ with a need for physical contact. The first time she’d done it, it had been so overwhelming he’d barely been able to stand it.

“That was so good,” she said when she was done, setting aside the stems. “Thank you so much, _Chaton_.”

“It’s no big deal, My La-” Chat froze, shocked, as Ladybug’s lips touched his cheek.

“It _is_ a big deal to me,” she said softly, her blue eyes unexpectedly tender. “You’re the best partner that I could have had. Sometimes I don’t think I deserve you.”

Chat stared at her, flabbergasted. “ _I’m_ the lucky one,” he said at last. “Ladybug, you - you’re _everything_ -”

It caught him off guard when she leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth this time. Chat flailed for a moment before catching on, gingerly setting his hands on her upper arms and kissing her back. Her lips were soft and warm and tasted sweet.

“Ladybug,” he breathed when she pulled back, a prayer and a question wrapped up in one.

“Ssh,” she whispered back, scooting closer and pulling his head down. She breathed against him for a precious few seconds, then kissed him again.


	16. Akuma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title: that one time Hawkmoth thought he could steal Chat away from Ladybug, and Ladybug told Hawkmoth to go fuck himself because Chat belongs to her. 
> 
> But you know. Akuma works too. 🤷♀️

“Okay, I didn’t sign up for this,” Rena said.

“No one signed up for this,” Carapace muttered.

Queen Bee huffed and folded her arms. “Just _look_ at him! If he hugs Ladybug _one more time_ , I’m gonna -”

“What, scream when he comes at you?” Rena said dryly.

“Guys, come on. Don’t start. Ladybug is counting on us,” Carapace interjected. He sounded a bit alarmed at the idea of getting caught between the two women again, and Rena couldn’t blame him.

She sighed and turned her attention back to Chat Blanc’s… well, _nest_ for lack of a better word. Ladybug sat in the middle, her arms loosely tied behind her back. Chat Blanc had his head in her lap and was looking up at her with nothing short of pure adoration.

Rena wasn’t saying she was jealous. But like, if a guy loves you so much he gets akumatized because you got hurt and his sole focus as an akuma is on keeping you safe, how could you say no to that?!

“They’re so cute,” she sighed to no one in particular. It helped that Ladybug didn’t look overly concerned, or even like she was in need of help, considering that she was bent over smiling and talking to Chat Blanc.

“Rena, it’s _not_ cute. He’s an akuma,” Carapace said patiently.

“I’d sell my sisters to hear what she’s saying right now,” Rena said, totally ignoring him. “I bet she’s telling him what a good kitty he is.”

“Obviously not. She’s telling him that he needs to let her go immediately and stop being such a loser,” Queen Bee retorted.

“Says the girl who has been akumatized like three times,” Carapace muttered.

Queen Bee gasped in affront. Rena grinned and leaned over to kiss Carapace’s cheek.

“Okay,” she said, satisfied with the way that Carapace had turned bright pink. “Much as I hate to say it, we should probably do… something.”

“Like?” Queen Bee said.

“Erm…” Rena held her hands up and shrugged. She really didn’t know what to do.

When an old guy had shown up at her door with three miraculous boxes and the news that Ladybug had been kidnapped by an akumatized Chat Noir, she’d thought they were going to be in for the fight of a lifetime. But Chat Blanc was completely content so long as Ladybug was safe. He only got upset or lashed out when anyone tried to approach them - they’d learned that the hard way.

So far, their plan had been to hang back and see what happened after all three got their butts resoundly kicked. As the sun began to go down, Ladybug shivered. Chat Blanc immediately leaped up and grabbed a stolen blanket, draping it gently over her shoulders.

Completely. _Adorable_. Rena’s inner fangirl was screaming.

“Okay, that was kind of sweet,” Queen Bee admitted.

“I feel useless,” Carapace said.

“We are useless, but - oh my lord, he just _nuzzled_ her!” Rena didn’t mean to scream quite that loud. But really, her heart wasn’t designed for this level of cuteness.

Ladybug looked up and over at them and visibly rolled her eyes at them. She was definitely judging them. Then, as easily as though she was being held by soft butter, she jerked her wrists apart so that she was free.

“Wait -”

“Do you mean to tell me -”

“She could’ve gotten free at any time?!”

Chat Blanc was immediately on his feet. Hawkmoth’s purple mask appeared over his face, not that it had done Hawkmoth much good so far: Chat Blanc seemed weirdly impervious to Hawkmoth’s control. He hadn’t even tried to take Ladybug’s miraculous.

Ladybug stood and, instead of running away the way Rena expected, leisurely grabbed Chat Blanc’s bell and reeled him in. Her lips moved as she whispered something, and Hawkmoth’s purple mask vanished. Ladybug smiled, full of predatory satisfaction, and then she leaned in _kissed_ Chat Blanc.

 _Kissed_ _him_.

Right there.

Rena might have died a little.

Naturally, Ladybug broke the bell where the akuma was at the same time. Chat Noir fell to his knees as Ladybug casually caught the akuma and purified it, then set the butterfly free.

“What happened? What did I do?” Chat asked frantically as the three of them approached.

“You didn’t do anything, _mon minou_ ,” Ladybug said gently, leaning down to cup his face with her hands. He tipped his head into her touch, and really the only difference between that look of utter _worship_ and Chat Blanc’s was that Chat Noir had green eyes, not purple.

“It’s so romantic. You love her so much you just wanted to protect her, and not even Hawkmoth could overcome that,” Rena said, clasping her hands to her heart.

“Well yeah,” Chat said, like it was obvious, and Ladybug turned pink. But she was also smiling widely.

“ _Chaton_ , I think we need to talk,” she said. “Come with me.”

Her fingers slid slowly from Chat’s face and she held a hand out. He took it. They shared a look that could only be described as meaningful, and then Ladybug slowly lifted his hand and _kissed_ the back of it. Chat’s jaw dropped and Rena couldn’t help a muffled squeal.

“Oh my god. Do you know what this means?!” Rena gasped, clutching Carapace’s arm as Ladybug and Chat stole away hand-in-hand, both blushing and sneaking gooey looks at each other.

“Ugh,” Queen Bee said, wrinkling her nose, because she did.

“What?” Carapace said, confused.

The excitement was too much. Rena screamed at full volume. “ _MY SHIP IS SAILING_! Thank you, Hawkmoth!”


	17. Oblivio

Chat wasn’t really sure what was going to happen during their first meet-up after defeating Oblivio. It had only been one day. He’d thought for sure Ladybug wouldn’t want to see him right away, that she’d want some time to herself, that she’d want to pretend everything was normal.

But she hadn’t.

He knew that Alya had reluctantly removed the picture of the kiss at Ladybug’s explicit request sometime this morning. Shortly after, Ladybug had texted him and asked him to meet her tonight, which could be good or bad. She hadn’t sounded angry in the message, but that didn’t mean much.

The uncertainty of it all had him hovering somewhere between apprehensive and nervous as he made his way towards their designated meeting spot. His heart started to pound when he finally spotted her, yoyoing her way over the streets of Paris. He stood to greet her and smiled brightly.

“Hey Bugaboo,” he said, aiming for as casual as possible.

“Hi Chat,” she said quietly, and he swallowed hard. Shit. No nicknames wasn’t a good sign.

“Look, I’m sorry for kissing you,” he blurted out, and she jerked her head up to stare at him. “I know you don’t like me that way. I crossed a line. I’m sorry.”

Ladybug’s eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement, and then she shook her head. “How do you know I didn’t kiss you? You don’t remember what happened, do you?”

“No,” Chat said slowly. “But… come on. You would _never_ be the one to kiss me.” He forced a laugh to cover up how much the admission made his heart ache.

She looked at him with a faint frown. “That’s not true.”

“Uh, yeah it is. You don’t even like me,” Chat pointed out.

“Well… about that.” Ladybug sighed and crossed her arms. For the first time, he noticed that she was holding her phone in her hand. That surprised him; Ladybug rarely brought her phone, because her costume didn’t have pockets and she was too nervous to leave her phone in his pocket all night.

“About what? I am so confused right now,” Chat said. “I thought you’d be pissed.”

“I kind of was, but…” She shook her head. “This whole thing was just a disaster, and really I was mad that the cure made us forget everything. How can I be mad if I don’t know what happened?” she asked reasonably. “Tikki got that through my head. I was all set to forget about it when…”

“When…?” Chat prompted, and watched as she turned bright red.

“Just remember, I didn’t do this on purpose. Once I heard it, it was too late to go back,” she grumbled.

Chat _still_ didn’t understand until she held her phone up and unlocked it. There was an app on her screen. Ladybug hit play.

“ _Oh my god, I’m so lucky_ ,” the voice on the recording said, and Chat’s eyes bugged. That was _his_ voice!

“ _I love you so much. You’re the coolest, most amazing partner that a guy could ask for. I have no idea what I did to deserve this. But I want you to remember me. Us. Remember that my name is Adrien Agreste and I love you_.”

“Fuck,” Chat said eloquently, and sat down hard.

“I know.” Ladybug sighed. “It played through before I could get myself together enough to shut it off. I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t apologize. I’m the idiot who left the message,” Chat said, utterly baffled at himself. What the hell had Oblivio-influenced-Adrien been _thinking_?!

“You didn’t know,” Ladybug said simply. She sat down beside him. “Neither of us knew. That’s the point.”

He sat there for a moment, absorbing the shock of it all, then shook his head and let out an awkward chuckle. “Well. Uh. Okay then. Hi.”

For the first time, she smiled. “Hi.”

“I don’t really know what to say,” he admitted.

“You’re not going to ask me who I am?” Ladybug asked.

Chat looked at her in surprise. “What? No. You never wanted me to know. That’s your secret to share.”

“Well,” Ladybug said. Her blush, which had been fading, deepened again. “Well. That’s not… well.”

“Well?” he repeated, confused but curious.

“We’re equals,” she said, very seriously. “And it just so happens that I have a cool, amazing partner too. One who I… um…”

“Ladybug?” Chat’s heart hammered against his ribs. He tried not to hope, but -

She looked up at him, her blue eyes soft and bright, and said, “I want you to remember me too. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I… I love you too.”


	18. A Ticking Clock

Ladybug could hear the beeping coming from Chat’s miraculous. She turned her head just in time to see the second green pad blink out, leaving him with three. That meant the clock was ticking: he had three minutes now.

She smiled confidently. That was _plenty_ of -

The world turned upside down and went dark and foggy and then there was _nothing_. Nothing until, just as suddenly as it had happened, the world snapped back into place and Ladybug found herself standing in a completely different place.

“What the hell?” she whispered, her words lost amongst the muttering and swearing of the Parisians around them. She was right in the middle of a small crowd.

“Look, it’s Chat Noir!” someone cried, pointing overhead.

Baffled, Ladybug lifted her to look and gasped. Even from this distance, Chat looked _awful_. His suit was torn in places, showing blood and bruises. His right arm hung at an odd angle, clearly broken. He was half-bent, as though he couldn’t straighten up, and leaning heavily against his baton to keep him upright.

Queen Bee stood just behind him. She didn’t look like she was in much better shape. Her dirty, bloody hair hung around her shoulders and face. There was a makeshift splint about her left leg, and blood caked to her upper body.

Catching Ladybug’s eye, Queen Bee pointed. Ladybug followed her finger and spotted the akuma trying to fly away. Immediately, she grabbed her yo-yo and threw it out. In a handful of smooth, well-practiced moves, she caught, purified and released the butterfly.

Then she threw her yo-yo again, and it caught on a steel pipe opposite where Chat and Queen Bee stood. Ladybug let the yo-yo reel her in, her horror deepening as she got a better look at the two of them. They looked even worse up close.

“What happened?!” she demanded as her feet touched down.

“You got hit,” Queen Bee said, crossing her arms and then wincing. “You fell under the akuma’s control.”

“That’s not -” Ladybug stopped, realizing that she had no other explanation for what had happened. And really, it did explain why and how she’d ended up clear across the city with no memory of how she’d gotten here.

She swallowed. “What happened? To the two of you? You look so -”

“Are you okay, Ladybug?” Chat asked, and she stared at him in bafflement.

“I’m fine. But _you_ \- you’re so - Chat -” She reached out to him.

Her whole body froze when Chat _turned away_.

“Of course he’s not fine!” Queen Bee said shrilly. “He wouldn’t fight you, the idiot. And the akuma, it was so _strong_. And it was just him, until I begged him to let me help, and I just - _what the hell were you thinking_?!”

“What? What… what do you mean?” Ladybug stammered.

“How could you not tell him who your back-up is?!” Queen Bee practically screamed. “He didn’t have anyone to help him! You said no more Queen Bee, but you didn’t bother to tell him who to go to for help?!”

Ladybug’s mouth opened, but no words came out. She stared, stricken, at her partner, who wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“He almost _died_! He could’ve DIED! And you, with your _stupid fucking ladybugs_ , wouldn’t have been around to help! I almost lost -”

“Queen Bee,” Chat said softly.

Amazingly, Queen Bee stopped. She was crying, Ladybug realized, and that was more of a shock than anything. She didn’t think she’d ever seen Chloé Bourgeois cry.

“I - I’m sorry,” Ladybug said, shaken. She’d never considered that before, that Chat didn’t know who Rena Rouge or Carapace were. It had never crossed her mind that he might _need_ to know. She’d always thought -

Well. She’d always thought _Chat_ would be the one to fall under an akuma’s power.

“Whatever,” Queen Bee sneered. “Cast your stupid Lucky Charm and heal us. It’s the least you can do.”

“Chat,” Ladybug said desperately.

He still didn’t look at her. “Your Charm, please,” he said.

Ladybug bit her lip but obeyed. “Lucky Charm!” she cried, and a small, stuffed, red and black-spotted cat fell into her hands. She threw it up into the air and shouted, “Miraculous Ladybug!”

The red light spread out, swirling around Chat and Queen Bee and restoring them to normal. Ladybug breathed a bit easier as Chat retracted his baton and set it back on his belt. But still he wouldn’t look at her, and Ladybug’s eyes filled with tears.

“ _Chaton_ , please. It was just - it’s to keep us all safe,” she said desperately.

“Cause we were all _so_ safe today,” Queen Bee snapped. She looked like she was going to say more until Chat set a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay, Ladybug. I get it,” Chat said. “Secrets matter.”

_They matter more than me,_ is what he didn’t say, yet Ladybug heard it clearly. She took a step forward, hand outstretched, but it was too late. Chat leaped off the roof and, after one last icy cold glare, Queen Bee followed, leaving a shocked Ladybug staring after them.


	19. Identity Reveal

When Marinette transformed for the first time, she had two directives from Tikki: number 1 was to stop the akuma. Number 2 was not to let anyone know her real identity.

The latter lasted approximately four minutes, just long enough for her to go screaming across a quarter of the city and land in the arms of a shocked catboy. He was knocked off his baton, they both plummeted towards the ground, and somehow in the process they ended up completely entangled in the string of her yo-yo.

Upside down, face-to-face, their heads and, more importantly, their lips smacked together. She heard him gasp and fely a hot pain over her heart at the same time. When she opened her eyes in shock, his lips were turquoise.

They were soulmates. The realization broke through her shock right about the moment her yo-yo magically unwound, dumping them both on the ground. She scrambled up and checked her reflection in the nearest store window. Her lips were now turquoise too.

The place where you first touched your soulmate will permanently change color to signify the bond manifesting. At the same time, the name of your soulmate emblazoned itself over your heart. Her maman had a blue handprint wrapped around her right wrist. Her papa had a blue handprint on his shoulder.

She ended up with turquoise lips, because _of course_ she had.

“Uh, hi?” the catboy said. “You must be that partner my kwami told me about. In, uh, more ways than one, I guess?”

“Holy shit,” she said, touching her lips.

“I’m Chat Noir,” he said, picking himself up off the ground. “But my real name is -”

“It’s supposed to be a secret!”

Chat gave her a blank look. “Your _name_ is written across my _chest_. Sorry, do you expect me to just never look in a mirror again?”

She pursed her lips, because yeah that’s fair, and gave in. “Fine. God Tikki is gonna be _so_ mad. I’m Ladybug, but my real name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Oh,” Chat said. “Huh.”

“What?” Ladybug squinted at him.

“I’m Adrien. Agreste.”

“Oh,” Ladybug said, momentarily horrified, because about two hours ago she read her _soulmate_ the riot act.

“I didn’t put the gum on your chair!” He blurted out, like he’d been dying to say this. “I just - Chloé did. She’s my childhood friend. I don’t have any other friends. I’ve always been home-schooled. I don’t really know how friendship works…” He rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck.

Against her will, Ladybug softened. His green eyes were large and luminous and pleading, and she’d never been able to steel her heart against puppy eyes. Or would that be kitty eyes? Either way, something told her that he was being honest right now.

“I’m sorry, though,” he continued. His ears drooped. “I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

Shit, he was _cute_. The thought crossed Ladybug’s mind and she blushed. “It’s okay. I’m sorry too. I guess I… I kind of jumped to conclusions. Chloé and I don’t have the best relationship.”

“I got that.” Chat gave a tiny smile, and her heart thumped a little too hard.

“A-Anyway, now isn’t the time to really talk about this,” Ladybug said briskly. “We have to deal with the akuma. But - oh no!”

“What?” Chat asked, looking around.

“We can’t go out there like this,” she groaned, pointing to her mouth and then his.

Chat looked disappointed. “You don’t want people to know we’re soulmates?” And he looked so _crushed_ by that assumption that she hastily shook her head.

“No! It’s more like, Ladybug and Chat can’t show up with turquoise lips if Adrien and Marinette are going to walk into school tomorrow with turquoise lips,” she explained. “Our identities have to be secret to everyone else. It will give us away for sure!”

“Shit. I didn’t think of that,” Chat said, frowning. “But you’re right. I’ve never seen soulmates who first touched with their lips.”

They both turned away, blushing, at the reminder.

Then Chat coughed and said, “Uh, okay! Come back to my house. I have all kinds of lipsticks.”

“Really?” Ladybug said, surprised.

“Model.” Chat shrugged. “I only wear it for photo shoots and stuff like that.” He stepped closer and peered at her. “I should have something that’ll match your skin tone without looking too obvious.”

“Okay, perfect.” Ladybug sighed in relief. Tikki seemed so certain that she could do this. She would’ve hated to mess it up within the first ten minutes, especially for something that wasn’t exactly in her realm of control.

“We better move fast, though,” Chat added. In the distance, they heard what sounded like an explosion.

“Right. Okay. Let’s go,” Ladybug said. She took out her yo-yo again, hoping she wouldn’t end up going in the opposite direction from wherever Chat’s house was.

“Wait!” Chat said.

Ladybug turned to him. “What?”

He avoided her eye, blushing. “After - after we’re done, do you wanna… I dunno. Maybe… get a coffee and… and talk?”

“Sure,” Ladybug said shyly. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach when he beamed back at her, and she couldn’t help smiling back.

Maybe being a superhero wouldn’t be so bad if she could do it with her soulmate at her side.


	20. Crushes

“So tell me, Ladybug, do you have a crush on someone?”

Ladybug supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised by the question. The akuma battle had been pretty simple, and neither she nor Chat had needed to use their attacks. So when Alya had cornered them after the battle and asked for a quick exclusive interview for the Ladyblog, both of them had agreed.

She was now regretting that decision. Alya’s questions had been professional, but now there was a peculiar gleam in Alya’s eyes that made Ladybug very nervous. She swallowed, feeling her stomach flutter, and tried hard not to look directly at Chat.

“U-uh, a cr-crush?” Ladybug stammered, her mind racing. The smirk on Chat’s face, when she finally gave in and glanced at him, didn’t help matters. She glowered at him. He grinned. 

Alya leaned forward, clearly sensing a weakness. “Yes. Is there someone _special_ in your life?”

Ladybug cleared her throat and tried to smile. “This is a change. Usually you’re asking me about Chat.”

“Well, you always say that you’re not interested in him and that your relationship is purely professional. So that leads me to believe there must be someone else. Is there a _Mr._ Ladybug?” Alya asked.

“A Mr. Ladybug?” Chat sounded like he was trying not to laugh. “Yeah, My Lady, tell us. Who do you have a crush on?”

That dumb cat. Ladybug tried to school her face and hoped she wasn’t blushing too badly. “As it happens, I do like someone.”

Alya’s eyes lit up. “You do?”

“You do?” Chat echoed, shocked.

“That’s right. He’s usually very smart, though sometimes he can be really stupid,” Ladybug said. “But he’s very kind and dependable, and he can be really sweet. Even if he is a huge dork.”

Alya looked like she was committing all those details to memory even as she asked, “What else can you tell us?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Ladybug said thoughtfully. “I can’t give you too many details, Alya. You know we have to keep our identities secret.”

“There must be something,” Alya practically begged. “What color hair does he have? Or his eyes? Please, Ladybug!”

“Blond hair,” Ladybug said and then, just when Alya was starting to beam, added,. “And green eyes. And I really shouldn’t tell you this, but he has the strangest affinity for black leather.”

The look on Alya’s face was priceless. “Bl-black…” 

Ladybug turned to Chat. “Like I said, he’s a huge dork. He makes up the stupidest puns, and he has the _worst timing_. But he’s also the _only_ person who can make me laugh when everything has gone to shit.”

Chat was smiling at her. “I bet he’s got a _claw_ -some sense of humor.”

“He really doesn’t,” Ladybug said, rolling her eyes. But she couldn’t help smiling. “His love for puns really _bugs_ me.”

“Puns aren’t the only thing I love,” Chat told her, his smile going soft.

“I know,” Ladybug said, reaching up to touch his cheek. His green eyes were twinkling down at her. They hadn’t really discussed this, but she knew he wouldn’t mind. Adrien and Marinette had been comfortably dating for about three months now, so it wasn’t like anyone would link them back to Ladybug and Chat.

Alya made a strangled sound. “W-wait. So - so you two?!”

Chat winked. “Mr. Ladybug, at your service.” He bowed.

“I - oh my - I can’t - it’s really happening,” Alya gasped, clutching at her chest. 

“Are you okay?” Ladybug asked, peering at her worriedly.

“I might be having a heart attack, but who cares?!” Alya turned her phone back to face herself. “Ladynoir is _canon_!”

“Damn straight,” Chat said, and to prove it, he wrapped his arms around Ladybug and dipped her backwards, then kissed her passionately as Alya’s screech of pure joy echoed in the background.


	21. A Rose

It was Ladybug’s night to patrol, yet Chat still left his house just after nine. Sometimes, when his room got too stiffling, he would join her on her patrol nights even though she’d told him before that he didn’t have to.

Tonight, he had an ulterior motive.

He caught up with Ladybug just as she was passing his school. She didn’t see him at first; she was talking to a little kid who was out with their mom. The kid was staring up at Ladybug with an expression of adoration. Chat could relate.

Not wanting to interrupt, he landed on the roof of the school. The kid noticed him first and pointed at him. Ladybug turned to see him, smiled - and oh, how that smile made his heart flutter - then said something to the kid and mom before pulling out her yo-yo.

“Bye bye Ladybug!” the kid called, waving madly. “Hi, Chat Noir!”

Chat laughed and waved back as Ladybug landed beside him. She turned and waved too, and they kept waving until both child and mom were out of sight. Then she let her arm drop and turned to Chat with a curious look.

“What’s up, _Chaton_? I thought you had some big test to study for?”

“I do,” Chat said. He and Ladybug both had a big test tomorrow, coincidentally. She hadn’t expected to be out late, which was why he’d come so early.

Ladybug frowned. “Is something wrong?”

Chat shook his head. “I just - I wanted to see you tonight.”

Her concern changed to confusion. “What’s so special about tonight?”

It stung a little bit that she hadn’t remembered, but Chat brushed it off. He knew Ladybug had a lot on her mind, so it wasn’t that surprising. He knelt down, savoring Ladybug’s deepening confusion, and pulled out his gift.

“Joyeux anniversaire, My Lady,” he said softly.

Her eyes widened. “It’s - what?!”

“It’s been a year since the day we met,” Chat told her. “One year ago today, we became Ladybug and Chat Noir for the first time. This has been the best year of my _life_ , hands down. You’re a big part of that.”

“Chat…” Ladybug trailed off. “I didn’t - I’m so sorry. I didn’t remember.”

“It’s okay.” He smiled to let her know that it really _was_ okay and held his hand up higher as a hint.

Slowly, Ladybug took the red rose from him. It was fully open, with beads of dew on several petals. She handled it carefully, mindful of the thorns, and held it to her nose. Chat grinned as she inhaled.

“Wait,” Ladybug said. “This is…”

“Wax,” he supplied, standing. “I got the idea from the last akuma we faced.” He winked at her. “A real rose will only last a few days. _This_ rose will last forever… as long as I hope our partnership does.”

Ladybug’s face softened. “Thank you, _mon minou_. It’s beautiful. It looks so real.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Chat said, opting not to tell her how much he’d paid for it. The wax rose really did look like the real thing, so it was worth it.

“I don’t have anything for you,” Ladybug said, biting her lip.

“You don’t need to give me anything,” Chat said, shrugging. “Your friendship means more to me than -”

He cut himself off as Ladybug leaned in towards him. Chat stared at her, shocked, as she _kissed_ him. It was soft, sweet and only lasted for a moment, but it was more than enough to crash his brain. He kept staring as she pulled back and smiled.

“Joyeux anniversaire, Chat Noir. May we have plenty of others,” she said, her cheeks blushing as red as the rose.

Chat nodded dumbly.

“Good night,” she added, sending him another gorgeous smile. Then, holding the wax rose carefully in her left arm, she leaped off the roof.

“She kissed me,” Chat breathed, sinking to the ground. He touched his lips, unable to stop himself from breaking out into a huge grin. She’d _kissed_ him.

Maybe things weren’t so hopeless after all.


	22. True Love’s Kiss

“What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?” Chat chanted under his breath.

He winced as a particularly well-timed kick from Queen Bee sent Ladybug hurtling backwards. The absolutely horrified look on Queen Bee’s face as Ladybug hit a wall and went down in a shower of dust and bricks might have been funny under any other circumstances.

But it wasn’t. Chat could never enjoy seeing his beloved lady under the influence of an akuma.

“I don’t know,” Rena said in his ear, nearly giving him a heart attack. “But you better think of something, because we need Ladybug’s help!”

“I know,” Chat said, grabbing his baton to fend off another brainwashed civilian who was trying to sneak up on them.

“What does she do to break you out of it when you’re controlled?” Rena yelled, similarly besieged.

“She doesn’t,” Chat said. Ladybug either won the fights on her own or got enough help from the rest of the team. She was amazing like that.

Rena pushed someone off her, looked him directly in the face and said, “She did once. The Ladyblog has the photos to prove it.”

Chat opened his mouth and then closed it, because he knew _exactly_ what she was referring to, and then he turned bright red. Because Rena wasn’t really _wrong_ but that would mean -

“Chat, _do_ something!” Queen Bee and Carapace yelled together. Carapace’s shield whizzed by a moment later and Chat swallowed, knowing they were now on the clock.

It probably wouldn’t work, he knew. Ladybug’s kiss had cured him because he loved her. She didn’t feel the same way about him. Yet it was their only chance. He had to at least try, and if it didn’t work… well, he might have to seriously consider tying Ladybug up and borrowing her miraculous to deal with this akuma.

He was positive she’d hate being kissed less, so that was plan A. Well, _almost_ positive. Like 60/40.

“Chat!” Rena yelped.

Right. He jolted into action, throwing himself at Ladybug just as she was peeling herself out of the stack of rubble. She squealed in rage as she was tackled to the floor; they rolled over a couple of times before Chat successfully swung his weight on top and straddled her.

He looked down into her scowling, furious face and mentally revised that estimate to 40/60.

“I apologize for this, Bugaboo. Don’t hate me,” he said. Pinning her hands with one of his, he grabbed her chin with his free hand, leaned down, and kissed her.

Her thrashing stopped so suddenly that it shocked him and he nearly let go. Then she went limp everywhere except for her mouth. And _then_ she began _kissing him back_. He savored the moment in spite of himself.

“ _Chaton_ ,” she breathed against his mouth. “What - ?”

“Ladybug?” He hastily pulled back to look at her, and could’ve cried with relief when clear blue eyes met his for the first time in hours.

“What happened?” she asked. “Why were you -”

“You got hit,” he said quickly, before she could come to the wrong conclusion. “I, uh, Rena thought that, um, me kissing you might - might… you know.” He suddenly realized he was still pinning her hands and let go.

“Oh she did, did she,” Ladybug said wryly. “How magnanimous of her.”

Chat wasn’t sure what that meant, but now wasn’t the time. He stood up and offered her a hand, relieved when she took it and let him help her up.

“I’m sorry for kissing you,” he said.

Ladybug looked at him, and then she smiled sadly. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“Well… well yes,” Chat said, confused.

She nodded and took his hand, giving it a quick squeeze. “Let’s talk tonight, ok? The tower at 9?”

Dumbfounded, he nodded back. She smiled again and took her yo-yo in hand, whipping it in the air and calling out for her Lucky Charm. Rena, Carapace and Queen Bee all let out cheers. But Chat was too distracted to cheer. He watched her go, baffled.

What did this _mean_?


	23. Blindsided

“Ladybug, are you okay?!”

Chat’s alarmed voice filled her ears a split second before his hand touched her shoulder. Ladybug drew in a shuddering breath, relaxing slightly. So long as Chat was here, she was safe.

“I can’t see,” she said. “The akuma got me.” The remains of her panic attack made her voice sound too jittery. She tried not to shake.

“Shit,” Chat said. It sounded like he was moving around in front of her. Ladybug reached out an uncertain hand and breathed a bit easier when he took it.

“Where is the akuma?” Ladybug asked.

“It took off. I don’t think it realized it hit you. Are you okay? Does it hurt?”

Ladybug shook her head. “No. It didn’t hurt.” She just couldn’t _see_. She did her best to stifle the renewed burst of panic racing through her veins.

“It’ll be okay,” Chat said, making a seamless shift from upset to calming. He stepped closer and slid an arm around her waist, letting her lean against him.

Having him there was unexpectedly grounding. She could put her hand on his chest and feel the warmth of his skin and the rapid beating of his heart, and she could smell his sweat and deodorant - they’d been fighting for almost three hours at this point.

“I can’t _see_ ,” she said again. “How can I purify the akuma if I can’t see?”

“I’ll be your eyes,” Chat said confidently. “Just like that time we fought Stormy Weather and she turned the lights off, remember?”

Ladybug nodded even though they both knew it wasn’t _quite_ the same. She couldn’t even even travel under her own power right now; she was surrounded by rubble on all sides, she knew, but she hadn’t thought to pay that close attention before she got hit.

“Do you need a minute?” Chat asked.

“No. Let’s do this,” Ladybug said. She went to lift her hand to wrap her arm around Chat’s neck and felt her knuckles impact something.

Chat yelped.

“Oh shit. I punched you! Oh _shit_ , Chat, I’m _sorry_.” Ladybug’s voice broke. Hot tears welled up in her eyes and she backed off, though she couldn’t exactly go far.

“It’s okay. It’s okay! You barely touched me,” Chat said quickly. “I’m fine, see?” He grabbed her hand and brought it to his cheek.

“I can’t feel anything through my suit,” Ladybug reminded him.

“Right. I forgot about that. I could always detrans-”

“No,” she said sternly.

Chat shrugged. “Worth a shot.” He was grinning, she could tell. His cheeks had shifted.

She frowned in the general direction that she thought his face was.

“Not funny,” she said, though she couldn’t deny the joke had lightened her mood a bit.

“It was just a suggestion,” he said, all innocence. “Now, come here.”

He carefully wrapped his left arm around her waist, holding her securely. She heard the sound of his baton extending and then suddenly they were moving. It was terribly disorienting to _feel_ the ground fall away when she couldn’t see what was happening.

She had her arms around Chat’s neck; she clutched him tighter. He didn’t say anything, but he pressed his cheek to her temple and tightened his own grip. His presence was comforting, moreso than she could have ever guessed.

Had she been alone, she would’ve freaked out. Even having someone else around - her parents, Tikki, even Rena Rouge - wouldn’t have been half as comforting as Chat was. She’d always known she trusted him, but she hadn’t known just how _much_ until right now.

Chat was her rock. Her partner. Her everything. Ladybug closed her eyes to ease the disorientation as Chat released the baton and they fell forward.

When had he become _that_ important to her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ficlet has [now been expanded](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20007967)!


	24. Giving Up

“I give up.”

Chat had been almost asleep before Ladybug whispered those fateful words. At her admission, he was suddenly wide awake. He turned towards his partner with a shocked expression, only to see that she wouldn’t meet his gaze.

Ladybug had her knees pulled up against her chest, arms wrapped around her legs, chin resting stop her knees. She looked small and sad as she stared out at the city lights.

“… What?” Chat asked, wondering if he’d dreamt what she’d said.

“I’m giving up,” she repeated. “I can’t do this.”

“Do what?” Chat asked. His heart thudded uncomfortably hard against his ribs. If he lost Ladybug as a partner _now_ -

“This. Everything. It’s too much. My friends hate me, my parents think I’ve turned into a flake, I haven’t been able to design anything for weeks. My brain continuously feels like it’s fried. I can’t even _remember_ the last time I got a good night’s sleep. I’m so _tired_.” Ladybug’s voice broke. A tear slid down her cheek.

Chat stared at her in silence. On some level, he supposed he’d known this moment was coming. Ladybug’s smiles never seemed to reach her eyes anymore. She looked like how he felt: like life had wrung every last drop out of them already.

“You’re not giving up your miraculous, are you?” he asked finally. That was his greatest fear and he was relieved when Ladybug slowly shook her head.

“No, I - I’m in this too deep now to let go. And I couldn’t do that to you.” She turned her head at last to look at him. “I’d miss you too much.”

“I’d miss you too,” Chat told her. He dared to reach out and put an arm around her shoulders. Normally she would’ve shrugged him off. Tonight, she leaned into him. She was warm, and he swallowed hard.

“I don’t know what to do,” Ladybug admitted softly.

“Maybe…” Chat trailed off.

“Maybe?”

“We could tell each other who we are,” he said slowly. “I know it’s dangerous… but LB, _this_ is dangerous too. At least then we could provide support for each other all the time. And we could be each other’s excuses. I don’t know about you, but it would be super handy for me to be able to tell my dad I was with someone rather than making up lame excuses all the time.”

He fully expected her to brush the suggestion off the way she always did. But she didn’t. Ladybug was quiet for at least a minute. Chat didn’t say anything either, content to lean against her and watch the city.

Then she said, “It would be dangerous. If one of us got akumatized… it would put us both at risk. And our families.”

Chat sighed. “Don’t you think having more support might _prevent_ one of us from being akumatized?”

“Tikki will be mad. Master Fu too.”

“With all due respect, My Lady, Tikki and Master Fu aren’t the ones living with secret identities,” he pointed out. “They don’t have to deal with everything. We do.”

“You might hate me,” she said.

“Unless you’re Lila Rossi, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

They both chuckled, but the moment was too fraught with intensity to be amusing for long. Chat looked down at her and saw that she was watching him. There was a look in Ladybug’s eyes that he’d never seen before and, with a jolt of wonder, he realized she was _actually thinking about it_.

“Okay,” Ladybug said.

“What? Really?” Chat said, shocked.

“Yes really. You’re right. Something has to give. I can’t do this anymore, and I don’t think you can either.” More tears pooled over, running down her mask, and Chat wiped them away.

“I can’t,” he admitted. “But - I would try. For you.”

She gave a wet laugh. “Oh, _Chaton_ , you are too good to me.”

“Adrien,” he said.

Ladybug tensed. “What?”

“My name. It’s Adrien. Adrien Agreste.” He felt an immediate burst of relief as he spoke. He’d been waiting for this moment for _so long_. Even if Ladybug decided not to say anything, he felt better just knowing that she knew about him.

“Oh,” Ladybug said softly. “ _Oh_. Huh. Well then.” Inexplicably, she blushed. “I guess now I know why Adrien always liked Ladybug so much.”

He grinned at her. “What can I say? I care for you too much to keep quiet about it no matter what mask I’m wearing, Bugaboo.”

Ladybug’s blush deepened. “Well,” she said. “Ladybug and Chat can’t date. Or at least, I’d prefer we didn’t…”

Chat’s eyes went wide. “W-what?”

“But.. But Adrien and Marinette could,” Ladybug said in a rush. “If you wanted.”

“Marinette,” Chat said, puzzle pieces slotting neatly into place. Suddenly it all made sense.

She nodded shyly. “It’s me.”

“Wow.” Chat shook his head in amazement. “That’s… perfect.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely,” Chat said. “I can’t think of anyone else I would’ve preferred.”

Ladybug’s smile was small, but this time it reached her eyes. It felt like she was smiling with her _soul_. Helplessly, Chat smiled back. This wouldn’t fix everything, of course. But he thought it was a damn good start.


	25. Hawkmoth’s Defeat

One week after Gabriel Agreste was arrested, Ladybug leaped off her balcony and swung down the street. What should’ve been a joyous occasion - Hawkmoth unmasked _finally_ , after three long years - really wasn’t.

Firstly, they hadn’t recovered the Peacock miraculous. Gabriel had merely smirked when asked about it, and refused to divulge any details no matter how asked. His house had been searched repeatedly, but there was nothing. Either Mayura had the Peacock miraculous or someone else did.

Secondly, Adrien hadn’t been to school all week. He wasn’t answering any calls or texts. She was going out of her mind worrying about him; it was getting to the point where Alta’s plan of storming the Agreste mansion was starting to sound more and more reasonable.

Thirdly, Chat had been acting weird. _Really_ weird. That was the reason for Ladybug being out and about tonight. She’d seen the notification on the Ladyblog that Chat had been spotted downtown. She needed to know what was going on with him.

“Hey _Chaton_!” she called out.

Chat looked up at her in surprise as she landed on the far side of the roof. “LB? What are you doing out?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” she said, walking towards him. “Is something wrong? Ever since we brought down Hawkmoth, you’ve been… off.”

His expression closed down, ears flattening against his head, and he looked away. Ladybug bit her lip, her concern growing. This was so unlike him. Something was _really_ wrong.

“Chat?” she asked gently, stepping closer. She reached out and took his hand.

“You don’t want to hear it,” he said to the ground. “It’s fine. I can handle it.” He looked up her with an obviously fake smile.

Ladybug frowned. “I want to help,” she said. She couldn’t help Adrien, but if she could do _something_ to help at least one of the most important boys in her life, she would do whatever it took.

Chat scoffed, shaking his head with a faint laugh. “You can’t help. Not with this.”

“Why not?” Ladybug asked, though she thought she knew the answer.

“It’s something in my civilian life,” he replied. Quieter, he added, “And you would hate me.”

“What? Chat, that’s impossible. Nothing could make me hate you,” Ladybug said, studying him. She wanted to grab his shoulders and shake the truth out of him.

It was still dangerous to reveal their identities, what with Mayura around and the Peacock miraculous unaccounted for, but for once Ladybug could honestly say she didn’t give a damn. Not when Chat was so obviously suffering.

“My father is Hawkmoth,” he said softly, so softly that Ladybug wasn’t sure she’d heard him properly.

“Your father - but that would mean -” Ladybug cut herself off as Chat finally looked at her with a bitter smile.

“Adrien Agreste, at your service,” he said with none of his usual humor. Just a bleak expression that made Ladybug feel chilled to the bone.

“Oh,” she breathed. Part of her wanted to freak out. A much bigger part of her was preoccupied with realizing that _Adrien_ had helped to put his own father in jail.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I -”

Ladybug stepped forward and threw her arms around him. “ _Sorry_? God, Chat, you have nothing to apologize for. _Nothing_.”

“But I should’ve known,” he said, his voice cracking. He was shaking. “He hurt you so many times. He hurt _everyone_.”

“You couldn’t have known,” Ladybug whispered, hugging him with all her strength. “I don’t blame you. No one blames you, Adrien.”

“You don’t know that -”

“Yes I do. I’ve been to class. Everyone is in your corner. Nino, Alya, Chloé - even Lila. We’re all behind you,” Ladybug said, pulling back just enough to look him in the face. “ _No one_ blames you, okay?”

He was looking at her with his head cocked slightly. “In class? So you…?”

“It’s me. Marinette,” Ladybug said shyly.

“M-Marinette?!” Chat’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Ladybug hugged him again. It was a moment before he hugged her back, but eventually his arms crept up around her waist and then he was hugging her for dear life.

“I’m still sorry,” Chat whispered.

Ladybug swallowed, fighting the surge of hatred towards Gabriel and said gently, “I know. I’m sorry too.”


	26. Sacrifice

Chat stared at his phone, reading the words over and over. Rage formed a tight ball in his chest, making him feel nauseous. No matter how many times he read the article, he still couldn’t believe anyone had dared to write it.

A familiar whizzing sound heralded his lady’s arrival, and he wanted to turn around and greet her. But he couldn’t bring himself to even when she said hello. His grip tightened on his phone until the glass cracked.

“Whoa, Chat! What are you doing?!” Ladybug gasped, rushing to his side.

“Did you read this?” he asked, heart beat thudding in his ears.

“Read wh - oh.” Ladybug’s smile flattened and vanished when she saw the screen. “You saw it.”

“I really want to find this Monsieur Leclerc and put my fist through his face,” Chat said. “How _dare_ he?”

Ladybug sighed. “Everyone has the right to their opinion.”

“Not when they’re this wrong, they don’t. He said that you and I haven’t done enough!” Chat said incredulously. “He says that if we were _really_ trying, we would’ve defeated Hawkmoth a long time ago.”

“I know.” Ladybug chewed her lower lip, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Did you see the part where he claimed that we wanted Hawkmoth to keep going because without him, you and I won’t look like heroes anymore?” Chat asked. Just _thinking_ about it _enraged_ him.

“Yes,” Ladybug said. “I saw.” She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, but he brushed it away.

“We’ve sacrificed _everything_ for this city!” Chat shouted, too angry to let her comfort him. “We hardly ever sleep. Both our grades have dropped. Our friends get mad at us because we constantly flake out on them. My father is furious because I keep ducking out of jobs. Your parents are mad too. We’ve both been hurt and _killed_. We have both done everything we can and IT’S _NOT ENOUGH_?!”

“Chat!” Ladybug grabbed his upper arms, forcing him to stop. “It’s bullshit, okay? We both know that. The opinion of one asshole doesn’t outweigh everyone else. It doesn’t make what we’ve sacrificed mean any less.”

“But doesn’t it make you angry?” Chat demanded.

Ladybug laughed bitterly. “Angry? Chat, it makes me fucking _furious_. On top of everything else you just said, that article makes you out to be a sidekick who sits around and does nothing. It makes me out to be a drama queen who loves attention.”

“Exactly!” Chat said.

“But _I_ know that’s not true,” Ladybug said. “So do you, and everyone else who matters.” She let go of his arms and took his hands instead, squeezing them. “You just have to… let it go. Or it’ll tear you up inside.”

Chat looked at her for the first time. He could tell that the article bothered her just as much as it did him, but she did have a point. Really, he should’ve been used to negative press - Adrien had gotten criticized several times. This wasn’t even the first time someone had criticized Ladybug and Chat Noir.

But it _was_ the first time anyone had ever accused them of not sacrificing enough.

“My Lady, you don’t think it’s true, do you?” he asked quietly. “Because… I don’t think I have anything else to give.”

Her eyes brightened with tears and she stepped forward, hugging him. “No, _mon minou_ , I don’t,” she whispered.

He wrapped his arms around her too, feeling a little lighter. He was still mad, but Ladybug’s hug was helping a lot. It just stung to think that there were people out there who didn’t want to or couldn’t acknowledge that he and Ladybug were doing what they could.

“And in fact,” Ladybug went on, pulling back to look at him, “I think we’ve done more than enough this week. We should go back to my place and play video games for the rest of the night.”

Chat blinked at her and rubbed his eyes. “But… patrol?”

“Screw patrol,” Ladybug said. She leaned in and kissed him quickly. “No matter what anyone says, we can’t be ‘on’ all the time. We’ve got to make time for the things that make us _want_ to fight, Kitty. Otherwise, we have no reason to stand against Hawkmoth.”

“You’re right,” Chat said. She always was. He leaned their foreheads together. “Thanks, Mari.”

“Anytime,” she said softly. “And maybe we can google how to replace the screen on your phone.”

Chat sighed ruefully. “Nathalie’s gonna be pissed.”

Ladybug giggled and cupped his cheeks. “She’ll get over it. Come on. Cookies, cheese and video games are waiting!” She kissed him again and then ran to the edge of the roof with Chat only a step behind.


	27. Comfort

Chat had just reached the Seine when his baton beeped in that way that meant Ladybug was trying to reach. Immediately curious, because Ladybug had already told him that she wasn’t going to be out tonight, he stopped and grabbed for his baton.

“Bonsoir, My Lady. What can I do for you?” he asked.

“Hi _Chaton_ ,” Ladybug said. “Can you come to the Eiffel Tower? I have a surprise for you?”

A surprise? Chat straightened up with interest. “I’ll be there in two shakes of a cat’s paw, Bugaboo.”

She giggled. “Okay. See you soon.”

They hung up and, mystified, Chat changed trajectory and vaulted himself in the direction of the tower. It didn’t _sound_ like there was anything wrong. It was just the opposite: Ladybug had had more warmth and cheeriness in her voice than she’d had in months. 

He reached the tower and used his baton to propel himself upwards until he was on par with their favorite beam. Ladybug turned around, spotted him, and beamed. She looked different from usual. Her hair was down around her shoulders instead of tied back in her pigtails, and she was wearing a big fluffy sweatshirt over her suit.

“What’s going on?” Chat asked. 

“Come closer and see,” Ladybug replied.

So he did, retracting his baton behind him as his feet hit the tower. His eyes widened as he took in the blanket that Ladybug had spread out on the beam. There were four pillows stacked up against a vertical beam. A box of pastries from the Dupain-Cheng bakery and a laptop, along with two more blankets, were waiting nearby.

“Ladybug?” Chat said uncertainly.

“I’m tired,” Ladybug said, putting her hands on her hips. “I know that you are too. The akumas have been non-stop lately. I was going to stay in tonight and just relax, but… but then I realized it would be nice if we could _both_ do that. Since I couldn’t exactly bring you to my bedroom, I thought I could bring my bedroom to you.” She gestured around.

“That’s so sweet,” Chat said, touched beyond belief. Had he gone home, it would’ve been to a large, empty bedroom where Nathalie would’ve been hanging around to make sure he was doing his homework, practicing Piano, or going over his Chinese lessons. 

This sounded _much_ more fun.

“It’s nothing,” Ladybug said dismissively. “I would’ve brought more, but this would all I could carry.”

“No, Ladybug…” Chat reached out and took her hand. She looked up at him with a small frown.

“What?” she asked.

“This is… No one has ever done something like this for me. People always want things _from_ me. Hardly anyone does stuff for me just because.” Chat hoped she couldn’t hear how tight his voice was. There was a suspicious lump in his throat.

“You deserve nice things, _mon minou_ ,” Ladybug said gently, squeezing his hand. “Come here.”

She pulled him over to the blanket and shoved him down against the pillows. Then she sat down beside him, much closer than she usually did, and pulled the two blankets up and around them. She grabbed his left arm and draped it across her shoulders, then leaned against him and pulled the computer into their laps. 

“Eat all the pastries you want. You’re too thin,” she said, waking her laptop up.

“I am not too thin,” Chat said, somewhere between indignant and purring with sheer pleasure over the fact that Ladybug was so close.

“Yeah, sure,” Ladybug said, rolling her eyes. She cued up the first episode of _Ouran High School Host Club_ , then reached over and grabbed a macaon. “ _Eat_.”

“As you wish,” Chat said softly, taking the offered macaron. He bit into it and let the sweet flavors of almond and raspberry over his tongue. It was the best thing he’d ever tasted.


	28. Community Service

Chat whistled softly to himself as he hefted another bag of oats on top of the two he was already carrying. The woman he was helping, Thérèse, smiled at him and moved to open the door for him. He grinned back and stepped through.

For this Heroes Day, he and Ladybug had decided to help out around the city. They’d started at an animal shelter early this morning, then moved on to helping out a food kitchen. Later, they had made plans to visit a children’s hospital. All in the name of encouraging other Parisians to help out too.

Chat didn’t mind. He wasn’t a very good cook, which was why he’d been relegated to helping to unload the donations coming in. Ladybug, on the other hand, had proven to be an excellent baker. She was in the kitchen. He wished they could’ve spent this part of the day together, but he knew he wouldn’t be helpful in the kitchen.

He shoved open the door of the last, half-empty storage room -

“Tikki, spots on!”

\- and had approximately two seconds to blink in dumbfounded silence before red sparkles swept over Marinette Dupain-Cheng and transformed her back into Ladybug.

Chat stared.

Ladybug’s mouth fell open. And then she screamed.

“Shit!” Chat hissed, jolted out of his shock. He lurched forward, dropping the bags of oats, and clamped a hand over Ladybug’s mouth. The last thing they needed was people coming to see what was going on.

Ladybug blinked at him, her blue eyes bulging. Chat blinked back at her dumbly, his heart racing. Ladybug was Marinette. _Marinette_. His shy, sweet classmate was fiery, confident Ladybug.

How could something simultaneously make _so much sense,_ yet also make _no sense at all_?

“Chat - what - why - how -?!” Ladybug stuttered, muffled because of his hand. He figured that meant she wasn’t going to scream again, and took his hand away. He backed off, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to. I had no idea you were in here,” he babbled. “I was just unpacking stuff. There’s no more room in the other storage rooms!”

Ladybug was still very pale, but she whispered, “Tikki got tired. And hungry. I was feeding her.”

Oh. Chat supposed that made sense. They’d been transformed for several hours now. Plagg was probably hungry too, now that he stopped to think about it. Thinking about Plagg was definitely easier than thinking about what had just happened.

“I guess I should feed Plagg too,” he mumbled.

“Right! You do that. I’m just gonna -” Ladybug gestured at the door, nearly knocking several jars of pickles off the shelf.

“You don’t have to go,” Chat’s big, stupid, _traitorous_ mouth said. “I’m Adrien. Adrien Agreste.”

Ladybug froze, then went even paler, then flushed bright red. And then she screamed again.

Chat leapt at her in pure panic, clapping a hand over her mouth. But he might’ve been a little _too_ enthusiastic this time. The force of his leap jostled Ladybug back against the shelf. Above them, a precariously stacked sack of flour fell.

 _Poof_.

Flour. Flour everywhere.

That was how Thérèse found them a minute later, but superheroes coated in flour from head to toe. Ladybug was still screaming. Chat was just standing there, kitty ears flat against his head and tail sheepishly clasped between his hands, wishing he were anywhere except where he was.

Thérèse looked between them and said, “I’ll give you a few minutes, shall I?”

“Yes please,” Chat whispered. “That would be lovely.”

“Right,” Thérèse said, and backed off, shutting the door behind her.


	29. Kwami Swap

“Miraculous Beetle!”

Red magic spread out across Paris. Beetle grinned to himself as the damage was erased and everything changed back to normal. He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of how _cool_ that was, and it was even cooler getting to try it out for himself.

“Another day, another akuma,” Kitty Noire said as she sauntered up to him. “Good job, _Chaton_. I don’t think I could’ve done it better myself.”

“I’m not the _chaton_ right now,” Beetle pointed out. His mouth went dry when he looked at her.

Ladybug was always beautiful, but when she transformed with Plagg she was downright _sexy_. The black of the suit set off the pale creaminess of her skin and emphasized every curve in a mouthwatering way. The first time he caught sight of her from behind, he’d tripped over his own two feet.

“You’ll always be my _Chaton_ ,” she said, blue eyes bright and mischievous. “Just like I’ll always be your lady… right?”

She winked at him and tickled his chin with the tip of her braid. Beetle choked.

“I - uh -” he stammered, and she giggled.

“Oh, Adrien, I don’t know how I ever thought you were cool,” she said teasingly.

“ _Rude_ ,” Beetle said, pouting. “My feelings, they hurt.”

“Oh,” Kitty Noire said coyly, pursing her lips at him. “My apologies, _mon minou_. Forgive this alley cat.” She fluttered her eyelashes.

“Okay, no. I want my miraculous back. Plagg is a bad influence on you.”

She laughed. “I don’t know. I think you look very sweet as Beetle. I like the black.” She prowled around him in a slow circle. “I know we did this just to make Alya happy, but it actually wasn’t too bad.”

“Not bad at all,” Beetle admitted. “I liked being the one to save the day for once.”

“You save _my_ day _every_ day,” she said softly. “I wouldn’t be able to do this without you.”

“I know.” He smiled at her and she smiled back. It was a mark of how well synced they were, and how deep their bond ran, that they were able to exchange miraculous. Apparently not every Ladybug and Black Cat were capable of using each other’s miraculous. Tikki had cautioned them both not to be disappointed if it didn’t work.

But it had, and Beetle felt like he understood his partner better for it.

“We’re going to transform back soon,” she noted with regret. “Wanna head back to my place?”

“Sure, so long as you promise we can do this again.”

Kitty Noire smirked. “You think I could go the rest of my life without seeing you blush like that?” She giggled again and winked at him. “Anytime you like.”


	30. Inspiration

Ladybug glanced around to make sure that no one was watching before she left her balcony. With the help of her yo-yo, she quickly made her way towards one of her favorite rooftops. It was tall enough to give her a great view of Paris, but wide enough to be comfortable for what she wanted.

Upon reaching her destination, she set her bag down and sat. As always, the lights of Paris were truly stunning. A small smile crossed her face as she pulled her sketchbook out of her bag and settled it in her lap.

Sometimes when she was stuck on a particular design, a walk through Paris didn’t help. But a view of Paris that only one other person got to see, well. How could she help but be inspired?

It didn’t take long for her to become completely absorbed in her work; she was trying to design a dress for the huge end of year party Chloé was throwing. Marinette had begrudingly received an invitation, but only because Adrien had been standing right there watching Chloé expectantly when Chloé was handing the invites out.

“That’s a pretty dress.”

Ladybug jumped and yelped in surprise. Chat quickly recoiled from her flailing limbs, hands held up in defense of his face. He offered her a sheepish smile when she glared at him, one hand clutched over her chest.

“What have I told you about sneaking up on me?!” she hissed.

“I thought you heard me! I wasn’t quiet!” Chat defended himself.

“I didn’t. I was busy,” Ladybug said, looking down at her book with a thoughtful frown. Thankfully her pencil hadn’t been on the page when Chat startled her, or otherwise she would’ve ended up with a huge mark.

“You were concentrating hard. What’s the dress for, My Lady?” Chat asked, kitty ears straight up and quivering with interest. Ladybug had to hide her smile. The longer they were miraculous holders, the more Chat’s kitty ears betrayed his emotions. It was adorable.

“I was invited to a party,” Ladybug said simply. She couldn’t tell him whose party, of course. That would be giving too much information away, since Chloé’s parties tended to be pretty exclusive, but it couldn’t hurt to tell him that.

“A party! Oh la la, sounds fun.” Chat grinned at her. “What color is your dress going to be? Ladybug red?” He nudged her ribs playfully.

“No, _Chaton_ ,” Ladybug said, rolling her eyes. “I try not to wear red. I might do it in pink. That’s my favorite color.” She stared down at the page, envisioning possible colors. “Yeah… a deep pink, but not too bright. And this part here…” She traced the hem and then the waist of the skirt. “I might do an accent color.”

Chat leaned in close so he could stare at the page and pursed his lips. “What about making it blue?”

“Blue? Why blue?” Ladybug asked.

“I got invited to a party too today,” Chat said, which wasn’t unusual. He frequently referenced things he had to do for his job, and parties seemed to be one of them. Ladybug didn’t know what he did for a job, of course, but it seemed unusually glamorous for an alley cat.

Of course, it was also possible that these ‘parties’ were actually something else and Chat was doing just using that word to throw her off track.

“Okay?” Ladybug said. “So what?”

“I’m gonna wear a blue shirt. It would be cool if we matched, that’s all,” he said casually. _Too_ casually.

“Chat, we’re not attending the same party. They’re probably not even at the same time,” Ladybug said. Chloé’s party was a couple weeks off; she assumed Chat’s party was much closer.

He shrugged. “It was just an idea. I thought it might be cool,” he repeated quietly. He didn’t look at her, instead staring off into the distance. His kitty ears drooped.

She’d hurt his feelings, she realized. Ladybug bit her lip, feeling guilty. He hadn’t asked about their identities in a long time out of respect for her, but she knew it was hard for him sometimes. It bothered her too. It was so hard not being able to know who he was. She looked down at her drawing again.

What would be the harm, really? A secret joke between partners. It might even be something she could rely on to give her a little more strength when facing Chloé and Lila that day.

“I think a white dress with blue accents would be nice,” she said into silence. “Or maybe even blue and purple, depending. What shade of blue?”

He looked at her in shock. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“It’s.. well… it’s the color of your eyes,” he said, blushing.

Ladybug blushed too. “You’re such a hopeless romantic,” she said, shoving him lightly to hide her embarrassment.

“Only for you, Bugaboo,” Chat said, smiling.

She rolled her eyes again and shook her head. “Okay. That’s a pretty bright shade of blue. So… maybe a blue dress with a darker accent. Navy, maybe.”

Chat nodded. “Sounds good to me. I’m sure you’ll look _paws_ -itively stunning.”

“You’re also a massive dork,” Ladybug said absently, scribbling notes to herself.

“Hey!” Chat whined, but she ignored him. She’d have to work fast to have this dress ready for Chloé’s party.

She wondered what Adrien would think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ficlet [has now been expanded](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20129674).


	31. Waiting on You

_“It’s time, Marinette.”_

_“Time? For what?”_

_“Time that you and Chat tell each other who you are.”_

Ladybug’s heart thudded a little too hard in her chest as she quietly slipped out of her room and took to the rooftops of Paris. Her conversation with Tikki haunted her; she ran around and used her yo-yo for quite some time before she finally collapsed, breathing heavily.

She wasn’t surprised when a black cat slunk quietly out of the shadows to stand beside her. Chat had joined her about twenty minutes ago but seemed to sense her need to push herself to her limits, and had accordingly kept his distance.

Now, he sat at her side and said, “Wanna talk about it?”

“It?” Ladybug repeated, staring at the sky. She wished she could see the stars.

“Whatever is bothering you.”

He sounded so concerned that it tugged her at her heart, and she opened her eyes to look at him. Chat really was her best friend. He could be stubborn, he had an awful sense of timing, and he was way too reckless, but he was also kind, loyal, and sweet.

If her ladybug luck had ever done one thing right, it was getting her this man as a partner.

“Tikki thinks we should reveal ourselves,” Ladybug said, sitting up.

“Really?” Chat’s excitement was obvious even as he tried to rein it in. “Why?”

“She said that the pros outweigh the cons. We trust each other enough, us not being able to find each other outside the suit is becoming an issue, and we need to know who each other is in order to achieve the next level of our powers.” Ladybug ticked each point off on her fingers. “She said it’s the last barrier to expansion, whatever that means.”

Chat wrinkled his nose. “Okay… but what if we’re akumatized?”

“Its a risk we have to take,” Ladybug said, quoting her kwami.

“That’s how Tikki feels. How do _you_ feel about it?” Chat asked.

Ladybug sighed. “I don’t know. I go back and forth. I think… I think I’m scared.”

“Of Hawkmoth?” Chat asked gently.

“No. Well, yes. But I’m more scared of it changing things between us,” she confessed. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“My Lady.” Chat turned fully towards her and took both her hands. “You _can’t_ lose me. Nothing could take me away from you.”

“You don’t know that,” Ladybug mumbled, her resolve weakening.

“Yes, I do. Personally, I would love to find out who you are. You know that. I’ve been waiting on you since we met.” Chat chuckled. “But I don’t want to do anything you’re comfortable with. No matter what Tikki says, we can wait if you want to.”

His sincerity was touching. Ladybug smiled. “How do you always know what to say to make me feel better?”

“I - really?” Chat looked surprised by that. “I usually feel like I’m always saying the _wrong_ thing to you.”

“Not at all,” Ladybug said. “I love that about you.”

He blushed. “So…?”

“So I think I’m ready,” she said. “But… not tonight. Can we meet tomorrow morning? In the little park across from the Dupain-Cheng bakery? In front of our statue? I’ll be the girl wearing a red, black-spotted sundress.”

“That’s fine by me. I’ll be the boy wearing black pants, a green shirt, and holding a red rose,” Chat said.

Ladybug blushed but giggled, freeing a hand to punch him in the shoulder. “Seriously, _Chaton_?”

“Hey, I’ve been waiting for this moment for three years. I’ve gotta make it count,” Chat said with a grin. “I want to make my first impression a good one.”

“Fine, whatever,” Ladybug said. “We’ll meet at ten?”

“I’ll be there,” he promised, lifting her hand to gently kiss her knuckles. His green eyes lingered on her, filled with excitement.

She smiled back. “Wanna sit and watch the city for a while?”

“Sounds _meow_ -vellous, Bugaboo.”

“Now you’ve ruined it.”

He laughed and Ladybug rolled her eyes, but it didn’t stop her from scootching over and laying her head on his shoulder. Tomorrow they would find out each other’s identities and things would change, hopefully for the better.

But tonight… tonight was just for Ladybug and Chat Noir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With that, the Lovesquare months are complete! I am toying with the idea of capping off the four months with AU August, but I haven’t decided yet. You’ll know by tomorrow. 
> 
> In the meantime, if there is a particular prompt from Adrinette April, Marichat May, Ladrien June or Ladynoir July that you would like to see expanded, let me know. I make no promises but I am thinking about expanding some of them in the next little while.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


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